Creamy Lemon Garlic Pasta
Cashews and a potato replace the dairy in this ultra creamy, fettuccini inspired creamy lemon garlic pasta.
This recipe is easy, quick, and delicious, but it dirties just about every pot in the house. And the blender, plus a cutting board, the grater, the ‘good’ chopping knife that I actually wash by hand. Thank heavens it only takes 20 minutes to make because I think I’ll be cleaning my kitchen for the rest of my life. Truly. As I gaze upon the disaster, I think to myself…. what have I done?
Earned a big bowl of this soul-satisfying creamy lemon garlic pasta goodness, that’s what.
Creamy Lemon Garlic Pasta
Ingredients
- Pasta (linguine, fettuccine, shells, bowtie, your choice) prepared per package directions.
- 1 tbsp plant-butter I used Earth Balance
- 1 medium yellow onion diced
- 2 small potatoes peeled diced and steamed
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 1/2 tsp onion powder
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tbsp dijon mustard
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp pepper
- 1 cup cashews preferable raw, but if using roasted, make sure they are unsalted.
- 1/4 cup nutritional yeast
- zest from one lemon
- juice from one lemon
- grilled zucchini, red peppers and roasted cherry tomatoes optional
Instructions
Pasta
- Bring a large pot of salted water to boil and cook pasta per package directions.
Potatoes
- Boil or steam potatoes until tender.
Cashew Cream
- Blend one cup of cashew with one cup of water in high speed blender. Don't worry if it looks too thin- it will thicken when heated. Set aside.
Cream sauce (other steps)
- In a large, cast-iron skillet, warm the butter over medium high heat. Add the onion and a pinch of salt. Cook, stirring often until the onion becomes translucent. Add the boiled potatoes, garlic, garlic powder, onion powder, salt and pepper. Stir to combine, and cook, stirring constantly, for a few minutes. Add the cashew cream and stir to combine. Let the mixture come to a simmer, stirring frequently. Carefully (it's hot!) transfer mixture to the blender. Add the nutritional yeast, mustard, lemon and lemon zest. Blend until the mixture is completely smooth. Adjust seasoning to taste.
Serve
- Combine sauce with pasta and top with veggies (if using).
Creamy Lemon Garlic Pasta : Recipe Notes
- Pasta: Any noodle will work, I chose fettuccine pasta, as this recipe is a bit of a riff on Fettucini Alfredo, specifically, the microwave dinner, frozen Michelina’s Fettuccine Alfredo that I liked when I was a kid.
- Plant-Butter: I’ve tested this recipe with both Becel Vegan, and Earth Balance and both work really well.
- Potatoes: No need to be to precise when chopping them up, since they ultimately end up in the blender.
- Cashews: We buy raw cashews in the baking section at Walmart. They can also be found in just about every grocery, bulk food and health food store.
More Pasta Recipes:
Love pasta? Try our Roasted Red Pepper Pasta or our Pesto Pasta and Beans
Can we be friends? Follow our journey of restoring a rundown farm, garden to table recipes, farm stories and life as new parents on Instagram: nixon_farm