Valentine’s Day Pasta
Preparation: 10 minutes
Cook: 60 minutes
Servings: 4
INGREDIENTS
– ¾ cup raw cashews, soaked overnight in water, drained, and rinsed
-¾ cup water
-2 cloves garlic, minced
-Juice from half a lemon
-3 or 4 fresh small beets, roasted (or a jar of pickled beets to skip roasting step)
-sea salt
-2 teaspoons sun-dried tomato pesto
-⅓ cup white wine
-¼ cup low sodium organic vegetable broth
-2 tablespoons unsweetened coconut milk (Any milk alternative of choice)
-400g of your favorite pasta
-⅓ cup pasta water
-¼ cup vegan parmesan cheese
INSTRUCTIONS
Soak the cashews overnight, or for at least 10 minutes with boiling water.
Option for fresh beets: Preheat oven to 425F. Wrap beets in tin foil, drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt. Roast for 50-60 minutes or until fork tender. Remove skin and set aside to cool. If you want to skip this and do something easy, just crack open a jar of pickled beets.
In a blender or small food processor, combine drained and rinsed cashews, water, a small amount of roasted beet, garlic, lemon juice, pesto, and sea salt.
Blend on high for 2 minutes or until smooth.
Boil pasta, set aside ⅓ cup of pasta water, drain and set aside.
Bring a large skillet to medium heat, add the pink sauce, and bring to a simmer. Add white wine, starchy pasta water, vegetable broth, coconut milk and simmer on medium low until nice and bubbly.
Add in pasta and stir until pasta is fully coated. Stir in ¼ cup of vegan parmesan cheese. Serve sprinkled with additional parmesan cheese!
Notes:
Slowly add more beets until you reach the color you want. The flavor infusion will be stronger if you add more beets. The color will also be darker if you add a lot!
