Creamy Vegan Pasta – Mushroom & Spinach
Our Creamy Vegan Pasta is a packed full of flavour and perfect for any night of the week. Cashews are an awesome substitute for many dairy ingredients and the best thing about cooking with them is that they are jam packed with nutrients.
Fun facts about cashews
Cashews grow on trees on the bottom of the ‘Cashew Apple’ (a fruit kind of looks like a capsicum). The fruit is known as an ‘accessory fruit’, meaning that it is discarded, and the nut that grows at the bottom is the most commonly eaten part. Cashews are kidney shaped and are surrounded by toxic layers intended to keep animals from consuming them. Before they can be eaten Cashews are lightly roasted to neutralize the toxins and to help remove the outer shell or casing.
Cashews are highly nutritious and many people avoid eating them due to their fat content. However Cashews contain less fat than many other nuts and the fat in Cashews is mainly unsaturated. Some of the minerals found in Cashews include iron (essential for oxygen transport throughout the body), zinc (to help activate proteins within the body), copper (to help the body process iron) and manganese (for metabolism).
Ingredients
- 1 cup Flannerys Own Organic Cashews
- 3/4 cup water
- 1/2 tsp Flannerys Own Fine Himalayan Salt
- 1 garlic clove, finely chopped
- 1 TBS Flannerys Own Organic Coconut Oil
- 2 cups baby spinach
- 1 cup mushrooms of choice
- 1 handful fresh parsley
- 1 packet of your favourite noodle or pasta, cooked according to directions on the packet
- Olive oil to serve
Method
- Add the cashews to a small jar or container, cover with water and soak overnight.
- Drain the cashews and add them to a food processor or blender with the water, salt and garlic. Process on high until extremely smooth and creamy.
- In a large fry pan heat the coconut oil over medium heat. Saute the mushrooms until cooked. Add in the baby spinach and parsley, stir until wilted.
- Then add in the cooked pasta or noodles as well as the cashew sauce, toss to combine. Season with salt and pepper and serve with a drizzle of olive oil.
