Seriously ‘Sheesy’ Carbonara

One of the hardest things for me to give up when I transitioned to a vegan diet was cheese as I just loved a thick cheesy sauce.

This is one of the most delicious and most creamy, cheesy tasting dishes I have tasted. I absolutely love it and will never crave cheese again.

Serves 4

Kitchen Equipment needed Blender
Steamer

Ingredients

Sauce

1/3 butternut squash
150g Cashew nuts (soaked 3-4 hours)
2 tablespoons of nutritional yeast
3 teaspoons tamari
1⁄2 teaspoon of cayenne pepper
Juice of 1 lemon
200ml of cold water
1⁄2 teaspoon of Himalayan salt and 1⁄2 teaspoon of black pepper

Pasta

Instructions

Soak your cashew nuts in a bowl of cold water for 3-4 hours.

Peel and chop the butternut squash in small chunks and place in steamer for 15 minutes to soften.

Drain the cashew nuts and place them into your blender with the butternut squash and all the other ingredients for the sauce including the water and blitz in the blender until it’s a nice smooth, creamy texture.

Boil the pasta in a saucepan with a splash of olive oil and a pinch of salt and cook according to the instructions on the packet. Add in the frozen peas 2 minutes before the end.

Sauté the garlic and the mushroom in a little olive oil for 3-4 minutes, adding the spinach towards the end so that it wilts.

Once the pasta and the peas are cooked, drain and mix all the ingredients together to serve.

Notes

If you wanted a plain cheesy pasta dish you could leave out the mushrooms, peas and the spinach. I just add sauté the garlic and add to the blender when making the sauce.