Lemon Florentine Spaghetti

Cashews are a multipurpose ingredient in a life of a vegan and the perfect candidate for a white, creamy pasta sauce. For best results, soak cashews overnight in a bowl covered with water so that they become really soft, which is the key for a creamy cashew sauce. Otherwise, you risk ending up with a gritty texture.

Preparation time 10 min
Cooking time 10 min
Serve this recipe fresh

Ingredients (3 servings)

Cashew sauce

• 1 cup Cashews (soaked overnight)
• 1 1/4 cup Water
• 3 tbsp Lemon juice, raw
• 1/2 tbsp Nutritional yeast (optional)
• 1/2 tsp Salt (to taste)

Remaining ingredients

• 1 medium Yellow onion (finely chopped)
• 4 clove Garlic, raw (minced)
• 1 cup White wine
• 4 cup Spinach, raw (baby leaves)
• 5 piece Sun-Dried tomatoes in oil (chopped)

Spaghetti

• 200 g Pasta, whole-wheat, dry (spaghetti, or gluten-free alternative if needed)

To serve

• 10 leaves Basil, fresh (sliced)
• 1/4 tsp, ground Black pepper (to taste)
• 1 tbsp Nutritional yeast (optional)

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Instructions

1. Soak the cashews
   The first step in making the creamiest cashew sauce is soaking the cashews overnight. An option to speed up the process would be covering cashews in boiling water and letting them sit for 30 minutes or more, depending how much time you have.
2. Boil your Spaghetti
   Cook spaghetti according to package instructions. I prefer them al dente so I might cook them 1 minute under the instructions.
3. Make the cashew sauce
   In the meantime, let’s prepare the sauce. Add the drained cashews, water, lemon juice, nutritional yeast and salt to a high speed blender and process on high until smooth. There should be no small bits of nuts floating around. The result will be slightly watery right after blending the sauce, but cooking it will thicken it up.
4. Warm a large skillet over medium - high heat. Add the chopped onion and a splash of water. Cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the minced garlic and cook for one more minute. Add more water by the tbsp when needed.
5. Add the wine and cook until has reduced by half. Then add the cashew sauce, spinach and sun dried tomatoes. Stir until the spinach has wilted and sauce has thicken up. Remove from the heat, taste and adjust flavors.
6. Toss the cooked pasta with the sauce and garnish with basil, pepper and nutritional yeast. Enjoy!

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Nutrition

One serving contains 610 calories, 20 grams of protein, 23 grams of fat, and 75 grams of carbohydrates.

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