I love a great creamy pasta dish, but the traditional Alfredo recipe can be quite heavy.
If you are craving a comfort dish, this plant-based Alfredo sauce will hit the spot. Using cauliflower not only has the added benefit of getting your daily intake of vegetables, but it also creates a great creamy texture that we love when enjoying a dish like this. I try not to play favourites, but cauliflower has become one of my favourites to cook with.
A few things to consider when making this dish:
Steam vs. Boil: I prefer steaming my vegetables whenever I can as it retains the most nutrients. You can definitely boil the cauliflower and get the same result.
Nutritional Yeast: There are a lot of nutritional benefits when adding it to your dish, particularly getting the infamous Vitamin B12. It adds a slight nuttiness to the dish that works really well.
Lemon Juice: This creates a nice tangy flavour and a touch of brightness to the sauce.
Pasta Water/Milk: This is necessary to help blend the cauliflower into a sauce. It also creates that buttery texture you get in the original sauce recipe. Traditionally pasta water is added in the original Alfredo sauce, which allows the cheese to become butter creamy texture.
Pasta Alfredo
Ingredients
- 2 cups of cauliflower florets (about 1 small cauliflower)
- 1 cup plant-based milk or reserved pasta water (a few more spoonfuls later)
- 1 tbsp nutritional yeast
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tbsp butter (vegan butter works just fine)
- 1/4 cup grated parmigiano reggiano
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 2 cloves of garlic
Directions
- Steam cauliflower florets until they are fork tender (about 5-7 minutes)
- Add pasta to boiling water, following directions on package for desired outcome.
- Once cauliflower has cooled slightly, add to blender along with the butter, milk/pasta water, nutritional yeast, lemon juice. Blend until it resembles a creamy sauce. You may need to tamper the cauliflower a little to get it going, or if it isn’t smooth enough add a couple tbsp of reserved pasta water.
- In a sautee pan, add a tbsp of olive oil and once the pan warms up add a couple of crushed garlic cloves to get the oil sizzling.
- Mix in cooked pasta.
- Add in sauce and mix in parmigiano. You can add some freshly ground pepper into the pan or seperately (the kids are not a fan)
- Serve with sautéed mushrooms, peas or just the way it is. Add dash of freshly ground pepper and enjoy!
Enoy!
Antonietta xo
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