{Recipe} Creamy Tuscan Rigatoni-Vegan & Oil Free

Being dairy free doesn't mean you have to miss out on creamy pasta sauces. I found this recipe and made some adjustments to it.  I omitted the olive oil and bulked up the veggies.  The secret to dairy free cream sauces is CASHEWS. Soaking and then blending up cashews with water(or broth) in a high speed blender, makes the creamiest sauce.

Creamy Tuscan Rigatoni

Ingredients:

1 cup raw cashew, soaked overnight (unless you have a high speed blender)

1/2 cup veggie broth

2 TBS nutritional yeast

1 TBS lemon juice

5 cloves garlic, chopped

4 cups spinach

3/4 cup sun dried tomatoes, chopped (I used dried so I soaked them before chopping)

1 bell pepper, diced

1/3 cup white wine

1 box rigatoni (12 oz)

salt & pepper to taste

 To make:

• Boil large pot of water for rigatoni, cook to al dente as directed on package.
• As the rigatoni cooks, make your sauce.  Add soaked cashews, veggie broth, nutritional yeast and lemon juice to blender.  Process until smooth, scraping down the sides if necessary.  Add salt & pepper to taste. Set aside.

•  Heat some water (or olive oil) in a large skillet on medium high and add garlic.  Sauté for a minute, then add spinach, sun dried tomatoes and bell pepper.  Add a pinch of salt and pepper and cook until spinach has wilted and sun dried tomatoes are soft.
• Add wine, turn down heat and simmer for about 5 minutes.
• Add cashew cream sauce and stir to combine. Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary.
• Turn off heat and add the cooked rigatoni to the skillet.  Stir to coat the pasta.

• Serve immediately. Top with vegan parmesan, fresh basil and black pepper (optional). 

•  Enjoy!

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