Creamy Tomato Pasta - Recipe - Natural Nourishment

Serves

Prep in

20 minutes

Cooks in

35 minutes

If anyone else is/was ever a firm fan of tomato and mascarpone sauce then god dang it this recipe is for you!

When I was little it was my sister and I’s absolute go to dinner, whenever we were asked what we would like, that’s what we’d say. My mum loved it because it was super convenient, and we loved it because it tasted SO GOOD!

Evidently however the whole mascarpone thing doesn’t fit in with my dairy free requirements these days, but who doesn’t yearn for an unctuous and comforting bowl of pasta on a cool evening?

Here I have managed to recreate that deep flavourful sauce, but packed it full of veggie brilliance and emulated the creaminess with wonderfully nourishing cashews instead 🙂 I also choose to use legume based pasta as it packs a wealth of plant based protein and dietary fibre, whilst also being less inflammatory for the body than grain based versions.

You can easily make a large batch and pop some in the freezer, and don’t stop at pasta, this makes an incredible veggie bake or sauce to top a pizza base, or make it slightly thicker and you’ve got an incredible dip or topping for toast 🙂

Key Facts

Gluten & Grain Free
Vegan
Plant-Powered
Family Friendly

Ingredients

For the sauce

1 large onion
4 large cloves of garlic
500ml passata
1 x 400g tin plum tomatoes
1 cup cashews
500ml vegetable stock
2 heaped tablespoons nutritional yeast
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 head cauliflower
freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 teaspoon coconut oil

‍

To serve

Pasta of choice, I use red lentil fusilli
chopped fresh parsley
nutritional yeast or Parmesan if not dairy free

Preparation

01

Peel and chop the onion and garlic cloves. Add the coconut oil to a large sauce pan and warm gently, once melted add the onion, mix well to coat, and then cover with a lid and leave to soften for 7 minutes stirring occasionally.

02

Add the garlic and stir through, cook for 2 minutes then add the oregano, cashews, passata, plum tomatoes and vegetable stock. Cover once more and simmer gently for 10 minutes.

03

Roughly chop the cauliflower into florets and add to the pan, season with pepper, re-cover with the lid and cook for another 15 minutes until the cauliflower is super soft.

04

Decant carefully into a high speed blender or food processor with the nutritional yeast, blending until you have an incredibly unctuous and silky sauce. Test the seasoning and adjust as necessary.

05

Cook your pasta as per packet instructions then combine with your sauce, any leftovers will keep in the fridge for a week or frozen for up to 3 months.