Craving a creamy Alfredo-type pasta without all the dairy and fat? I compiled a few vegan Alfredo recipes together to make one that would be the best and it was delicious. It’s a cashew based sauce, but instead of using a cup of cashews, I used half a cup and added zucchini as a filler because it’s so calorie friendly. I also roasted a head of garlic to add into it for a wonderful Italian flavor and lemon to bring some acidity to the sauce. I used brown rice fusilli from Trader Joe’s and don’t worry, I remembered to rinse it well this time before mixing it into the sauce. I roasted some asparagus as a mix in with the pasta and baby spinach, but you can use whatever vegetables you like to make this pasta dish work for your family. I added chopped grape tomatoes on top of mine to bring some more color, and topped it with more lemon zest, pepper, and nutritional yeast.

Creamy Lemon Asparagus Pasta

1 lb Brown Rice Fusilli (TJ’s)

1/2 bag baby spinach

1 bunch of asparagus, trimmed

fresh basil

fresh lemon thyme

Vegan Alfredo Sauce

1/2 cup raw cashews, soaked

1 large zucchini, peeled and chopped

1 head roasted garlic

1/3 cup vegetable broth

juice of 1 lemon

few pinches of lemon zest

1/2 tsp Italian seasoning

salt and pepper to taste

1 tbsp nutritional yeast

1. Soak cashews the morning of in hot water and let sit on the counter until you need to make the sauce.
2. Preheat oven to 400* and cut the top of a head of garlic, spray with a little olive oil and sprinkle with salt then wrap in tin foil. Bake for 35-45 minutes, I went ahead and made two heads so I can use one for roasted garlic hummus.
3. Keep oven on and add asparagus spears with salt and pepper to roast in the oven for 10 minutes and then cool and chop into bite-size pieces.
4. While boiling pasta, you can blend everything for the Alfredo in your high-speed blender. I used my Nutribullet and it worked great.
5. Drain pasta and rinse if using rice pasta, then add baby spinach, asparagus, and Alfredo sauce and mix to combine. Add fresh torn basil and thyme and stir.
6. Turn on medium-low to heat the mixture back up and serve. If the sauce gets too thick, you can add vegetable broth to thin it out to the consistency you like.
7. You can add tomatoes, if you like them, and sprinkle with pepper, lemon zest, and nutritional yeast.