There are just some days where a big bowl of pasta covered in a creamy sauce just sounds so comforting. It could be after a long run or a particularly emotionally-exhausting day. But as I write this, I find myself salivating as I imagine myself enjoying such a meal.
BUT, if you have ever looked at the nutritional values or even the ingredients of an Alfredo sauce,
it can be pretty difficult to swallow all the fat and calories that go into that delectable dish. Lots of cream and lots of butter. So a real Alfredo should probably be a super special treat...and I just have a craving for it WAY more than that.
So, when I came across a few recipes for a cashew Alfredo, I had to try it. The first recipe I tried was this delicious Creamy Garlic Alfredo with Arugula from Living Nutrition. Today, since I had some tomatoes, I decided to try a blend of it with Raw Food Recipes's Zucchini Pasta Alfredo. Now both of these are raw, but I like to eat my pasta warm, so I decided to pan-fry the zucchini and heat the sauce a bit before serving. The last time I made this, I quickly blanched the zucchini pasta (for like 30 seconds - 1 minute in boiling water), but read about how pan frying gives it a really great taste, too. I really enjoyed the pan-frying method and may continue to cook zucchini pasta from now on :)
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| Spiralized Zucchini |
Ingredients:
4-5 medium zucchinis, spiraled or sliced into pasta size
2.5c cashews, soaked for at least four hours, and rinsed well
1 1/4c of water
2 gloves of garlic
1/2c fresh squeezed lemon juice
1tbsp tahini
1/2tsp fresh grated nutmeg
Sea salt and pepper to taste
Olive oil
mini tomatoes, halved
Arugula
Directions:
1. Combine the cashews, water, garlic, lemon juice, tahini, nutmeg and salt and pepper in a blender and blend until it is all combined. (Hint: Play with your salt and pepper and taste and adjust as you go...feel free to do the same with lemon juice, because this is what gives it that parmesan-like taste).
2. In a frying pan, heat some olive oil and then quickly throw the zucchini in just to make it slightly tender. I like a little crunch, so I had it in for only 2-3 minutes.
3. Depending on your blender, you may want to transfer your sauce to the frying pan just to warm it. If you have a Vitamix, it may warm it for you, if you keep it going long enough. If you are warming in a frying pan (which is what I did), throw in your tomatoes so they are slightly warm, too.
4. Start serving by putting the arugula on a plate. Then add the zucchini, sauce and tomatoes. Enjoy!
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