Vegan Pasta Alfredo
It’s that time of year again when thoughts turn to comfort food. This is one of the first vegan recipes I picked up – it’s simple, quick and tastes great.
Contrary to the picture of vegans currently being touted in the media, we don’t just eat avocados imported from South America. We also eat a lot of locally grown vegetables. In fact, a lot of plant based eaters deliberately buy local produce in order to reduce carbon emissions. Alex and I eat a lot – and I mean a lot – of cauliflower. For years neither of us could stand it but then I had an epiphany in an Ottolenghi restaurant. Now we enjoy it as steaks, curries, rice, Bang Bang, soups, fritters, Buffalo Wings, and, as is this case, as the basis for a sauce.
This is low fat, high fibre and fast.
PASTA ALFREDO (VEGAN)
Ingredients:
1 medium head of cauliflower, cut into florets
1 large leek, sliced
2-4 cloves of garlic, crushed
4 heaped Tbsp Nutritional Yeast
1 Vegetable Stock Cube
Splash of Liquid Smoke (optional)
1 + cups of unsweetened Plant based milk (I like Hemp milk)
Salt & Pepper
Vegan Fettuccine
Handful of Walnuts, roughly chopped
Method:
Cook the cauliflower florets in a pan of boiling water until just tender (5-7 minutes).
Heat a small amount of oil in a frying pan, and saute the leek and garlic until soft.
Add the cauliflower, leeks & garlic, and 1 cup of plant based milk to a blender and blitz until smooth (it’s worth taking the time to really blitz the mixture until it’s smooth and creamy). Add more milk if necessary to get the consistency you’d like.
Pour the mixture back into a pan and gently warm. Add the stock cube, Nutritional Yeast, and Liquid Smoke, if using. Stir until everything is combined – add salt & pepper to taste. At this point I very often add more to the sauce – sweetcorn or peas, spinach or finely chopped kale, and parsley work well.
Cook the Fettuccine then transfer to serving bowls. Pour over some of the sauce and sprinkle walnuts over the top.
Enjoy!
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