It's so creamy, it's hard to believe there's no dairy!
This is a perfect dish to serve to those new to plant-based eating. They'll have a hard time believing there's no dairy in the sauce! This is such a deliciously flavorful and creamy pasta dish. The recipe makes enough sauce for about 4 main-dish servings OR about 8 side-dish servings. You'll likely also have a little extra sauce to reserve for later. Oh, the possibilities! 🙂
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- It's so creamy, it's hard to believe there's no dairy!
- Prepare your 'mise en place'
- Boil and drain the potatoes
- Get ready to blend the sauce
- Blend the sauce
- Boil the pasta
- Add reserved pasta water to the sauce and blend again
- Pour some of the sauce over the pasta
- Stir in the diced tomatoes and warm
- Garnish and enjoy!
- You may have extra sauce!
- Frequently Asked Questions
- 📖 Recipe
- 💬 Comments
Prepare your 'mise en place'
To make cooking go so much more smoothly, prep your ingredients ahead of time ('mise en place' = everything in its place), including peeling and dicing the potatoes. I try to begin with mise en place most of the time because having my ingredients prepped and at the ready significantly decreases any 'cooking anxiety'. Note: When prepping for this recipe, if you're not boiling the potatoes right away, submerge them in cool water to prevent browning.
Boil and drain the potatoes
Bring a medium saucepan of cool water to a boil. Note: you can begin heating a separate large pot of cold water for the pasta at this point, too. Once the potato water is boiling, add a bit of salt to enhance flavor, if desired. Add the peeled and diced potatoes, turn down to a simmer, and cook for 10-12 minutes or until cooked through. The potatoes are done when they're very easily pierced with a sharp knife. Once done, drain the potatoes using a colander and briefly allow them to cool.
Get ready to blend the sauce
While the pasta water is heating up, add the cooked potatoes, plant milk, can of fire-roasted tomatoes (undrained), nutritional yeast, onion powder, chipotle tabasco, lemon juice, cashews, and sea salt to a high-speed blender.*
Blend the sauce
Blend until the sauce becomes smooth and creamy but do not overblend/overheat as the sauce may begin to become clumpy. Once smooth, keep the sauce in the blending container and set aside for now.
Boil the pasta
Begin boiling the pasta water at this point if you haven't already. Add a bit of salt to the pasta water to enhance the flavor once the water is boiling, if desired. Follow the directions on the box of pasta you choose. I chose rotini pasta because I love how it absorbs so much sauce!
Once you've added the dry pasta to the boiling water, keep it at a nice low rolling boil to help the pasta cook evenly. Once the pasta has reached the texture you desire, save ½ cup of the pasta water (this is so easy to forget!) and drain the pasta using a colander. Do not rinse (unless you are using gluten-free pasta)! Note: if you do forget to save the pasta water, or if you're batch cooking this sauce alone, go ahead and use regular water in the next step. No worries!
Add reserved pasta water to the sauce and blend again
While the pasta is draining in the colander, add your reserved ½ cup of pasta water to the sauce. Blend again, briefly, until combined. This sauce has a tendency to thicken as it cools so this extra water will help to thin out the sauce just a bit, keeping it nice and creamy.
Pour some of the sauce over the pasta
Once the pasta has been drained, add it back to the empty pot. Then, pour and gently stir in about 3 cups of the sauce until the pasta is nicely coated but not drowning in the sauce. You will likely have about 1 cup of extra sauce. See ideas for using your extra sauce, below!
Stir in the diced tomatoes and warm
Next, gently stir in the drained fire-roasted tomatoes. Then, warm the pasta and sauce over low heat for 2-3 minutes, stirring frequently. Slice your fresh basil into ribbons at this point as well.
Garnish and enjoy!
Place the warm sauce-coated pasta into a serving dish and top with fresh basil ribbons if you would like. If you don't have fresh basil, this recipe is still very tasty without it, too. Serve & enjoy! 🙂
You may have extra sauce!
You'll likely have about 1 cup of extra sauce. This sauce can be stored in the refrigerator (it should last about 4-5 days). As the sauce cools, it'll likely thicken up a bit. It can be briefly reheated on the stovetop or by using a high speed blender, if desired. Please note: if this sauce is reheated too much it may become clumpy. You may need to add a tablespoon or so more water to thin the sauce out to your liking while reheating. If using the stovetop, be sure to heat on low and stir frequently. Here are a few ideas for the extra sauce:
- Use as a dip!
- think raw veggies, oil-free tortilla chips, or air-fried potato fries!
- Reheat (see above) and drizzle over steamed broccoli!
- Reheat (see above) and drizzle over a baked potato!
Frequently Asked Questions
If you have a nut allergy or if you would like to decrease the fat content of this dish, the cashews can be replaced with a similar quantity of drained and rinsed white beans, such as cannellini.
A high-speed blender is recommended because it will help the sauce become nice and creamy while also heating up the sauce a bit. Using a regular blender should be ok, too but I'd recommend soaking the cashews in room temperature water overnight or in boiling hot water for at least an hour prior to draining and blending.
Hot water will contain more dissolved minerals from the pipes in your home. These minerals can sometimes change the flavor of the food you're boiling.
Never rinse pasta after cooking (unless it's gluten-free pasta). Rinsing removes all of the great starch from the pasta and prevents the sauce from sticking to it.
📖 Recipe
Deliciously Creamy Plant-Based Fire Roasted Pasta
Equipment
- vegetable peeler
- knife
- cutting board
- medium saucepan
- colander
- high-speed blender
- large pot
Ingredients
Pasta
- 16 oz whole grain (or gluten-free) pasta of your choice I chose a whole grain rotini
Fire Roasted Pasta Sauce
- ¾ cup unsweetened plant milk I used unsweetened soy milk
- 1 ½ cups potatoes, peeled and diced I used yukon gold but russet works, too!
- 15 oz can of crushed or diced fire roasted tomatoes, undrained + additional fire-roasted tomatoes needed, below
- ¼ cup nutritional yeast seasoning
- 1 tsp onion powder
- ½ tsp chipotle tabasco
- ¼ cup cashews be sure to pre-soak if not using a high-speed blender* (see note)
- 1 tsp sea salt + more if you choose to add salt to your cooking water
- ½ cup reserved pasta cooking water save this pasta cooking water to add in the final blending step
Fire Roasted Pasta Final Touches
- 1 can fire-roasted tomatoes, drained
- 2 Tbsp fresh basil, sliced into strips, optional slice just prior to serving
Instructions
Prepare your 'mise en place'
- Prep your ingredients ahead of time, including peeling and dicing the potatoes. If not boiling right away, place the potatoes in a bowl of cool water to prevent browning.
Boil and drain the potatoes (start heating the pasta water at this point, too)
- Bring a medium saucepan of cool water to a boil. Start heating a large pot of pasta water at this point, too. Once the potato water is boiling, add salt to enhance flavor, if desired. Add the peeled and diced potatoes, turn down to a simmer, and cook for 10-12 minutes or until cooked through. The potatoes are done when they're easily pierced with a sharp knife. Once done, drain the potatoes using a colander and allow to cool a little.
Blend the sauce
- Add the cooked potatoes and all other sauce ingredients to a high-speed blender.* Blend until the sauce becomes smooth and creamy but do not overblend/overheat as the sauce may begin to become clumpy. Keep the sauce in the blending container at this point but set aside.
Boil the pasta
- Begin boiling the pasta water at this point if you haven't already. Once the water is boiling, add salt to the water to enhance flavor, if desired. Follow the directions on the box of pasta you choose. Once you've added the dry pasta to the boiling water, keep it at a nice low rolling boil to help the pasta cook evenly. Once the pasta has reached the texture you desire, save ½ cup of the pasta water (this is so easy to forget!) and drain the pasta using a colander. Do not rinse (unless you are using a gluten-free pasta)!
Add some pasta water to the sauce and blend again
- Add ½ cup of pasta water to the sauce and blend again briefly until combined.
Pour some of the sauce over the pasta
- Once the pasta has been drained, add it back to the empty pot. Then, pour and gently stir in about 3 cups of the sauce until the pasta is nicely coated but not drowning in the sauce. You will likely have about 1 cup of extra sauce to save for later.
Stir in the final ingredients and warm over low heat
- Next, gently stir in the well-drained fire roasted tomatoes. Then, warm the pasta and sauce over low heat for 2-3 minutes, stirring frequently. Slice your fresh basil into ribbons at this point as well.
Garnish and Enjoy! 🙂
- Place the warm sauce-coated pasta into a serving dish and top with fresh basil ribbons. Enjoy! 🙂
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