SPAGHETTI CAULIFLOWER CASHEW CREAM ALFREDO

SPAGHETTI CAULIFLOWER CASHEW CREAM ALFREDO

#SIAintheKitchen

If heaven exists, does it taste just like this?! I’m not kidding. I whipped up a batch of spaghetti cauliflower cashew cream alfredo for my nephew since he’s an extremely picky eater. Because the sauce is so rich and fattening, I wanted to lighten it up and cut down on the amount of calories it has. I’ve made a cashew cream before and cauliflower puree but separately and both in different applications. I thought that hey, maybe I’ll put the two together and just pray that it’ll turn out?

Well, my nephew wasn’t in the mood at all and had two bites and that was about it. And to be frank, I wasn’t a big fan of it. It tasted good but not…alfredo-esque. So I froze the rest of the cauliflower-cashew cream combo and saved it for another time to re-work the recipe and this time, it was bliss.

It just needed to be thinned out and cheese to be added. Ha, I had to unveganize it but you can’t really sub out the parmesan flavour. At all. Trust me. This time around was much more successful and so, SO good. Totally melt-in-your-mouth and not heart cloggingly bad for you. I also added in some carrot ribbons to further bulk it up and to sneak in some more vegetables. Yum!

SPAGHETTI CAULIFLOWER CASHEW CREAM ALFREDO - serves 6 - 8

Cauliflower cashew cream

• 1 cauliflower, cut into florets, leaves removed and stems chopped

• 2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil

• 1/2 tsp kosher salt

• freshly ground black pepper, as needed

• 1 heaping cup raw cashews, soaked overnight

• water (enough to cover the cashews)

• 4 garlic cloves

Spaghetti

• 1 lb spaghetti

• 3 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil

• 3 - 4 cups starchy pasta water

• 1 cup parmesan cheese, freshly grated (choose a vegan substitute if you’d like)

• freshly ground black pepper, a generous amount

• 3 carrots, skins peeled off

• handful of Italian flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped

1. Preheat the oven to 400F and line a baking sheet with aluminum foil. Toss the cauliflower florets with olive oil, salt and pepper and roast in the oven for 25 minutes. You want the cauliflower to be slightly caramelized and soft that a fork can pierce through it easily. Let cool and set aside.

2. Puree the cauliflower, garlic, soaked cashews and its soaking liquid in a food processor until very smooth. Depending on the strength of your food processor, this can take up to 7 minutes. Mine took about 5 minutes to become almost smooth.

3. Bring a large pot of heavily salted water to a boil and cook the spaghetti until al dente, about 6 - 7 minutes. Reserve some pasta water, about 4 cups and set aside. Drain and rinse the spaghetti.

4. Create carrot ribbons with your peeler and set aside in a large serving bowl.

5. In a sauce pan, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add in the cauliflower-cashew cream puree and stir until well-combined. Gradually ladle in some of the starchy pasta water until you achieve your desired consistency - mine took about 3 cups worth. Add in the parmesan cheese and stir until melted.

6. Add the spaghetti and accompanying sauce to the carrot ribbons and toss. Apply liberally with freshly ground black pepper and garnish with parsley.