Yum! I was planning on making a fettuccine Alfredo with summer veggies from my McDougall recipe app, but I changed it up to fit my taste for what I was wanting tonight. I wanted to cut back on the fat from the cup of nuts it called for (since I ate another brownie today) so I used 1/4 cup of cashews to make a cream sauce and then combined it with oil free marinara sauce to make a deliciously creamy pink sauce that coated the linguine perfectly. I sautéed a ton of summer veggies and added the creamy pink sauce and pasta to create this filling yet light summer dish. I really enjoy pink sauce because it has more flavor and is lighter than plain cashew Alfredo, but it adds a creaminess and decadence to plain marinara. It’s the best of both! It’s something that seems fancy and not in our weekly lineup. Nothing like getting your fill of vegetables while spinning a bowl of pasta! 🍝

Summer Veggie Linguine with Pink Sauce

1/4 raw cashews, soaked in hot water

1/3 cup water

1 tsp minced garlic

1 tbsp nutritional yeast

1 tsp herbs de Provence

Salt and pepper to taste

1 yellow squash, quartered and sliced

1 zucchini, halved and sliced

1 yellow bell pepper, diced

1 bag baby spinach

Large handful of shredded carrots

10 oz baby Bella mushrooms, sliced

1 large handful grape tomatoes, halved

2 cups oil free marinara (I used Engine 2 tomato basil)

1 lb linguine

1. I heat a small bowl of water in the microwave for 2 min until almost boiling and then add cashews to soak at least 10-15 minutes.

2. In a large sauté pan, add peppers, zucchini, squash, mushrooms, and carrots and sauté for 5-7 minutes.

3. Cook linguine while veggies are cooking.

4. In a high powered blender, add the first 6 ingredients to make the creamy sauce and blend until smooth.

5. Add spinach and tomatoes to the veggie mix and cook down until spinach is wilted.

6. Drain pasta and add pasta and veggies back to the pasta pot.

7. Add 2 cups of marinara and the cashew cream sauce to the pasta mixture and stir to combine. I sprinkle nutritional yeast to top mine and fill up your bowl!