The Nutritional Yeast Factor - Vegan Cheesy Pasta Surprise

                                                                The Noodle Girl

 

I wasn't planning on doing another blog today. But I came home and saw that my nutritional yeast came in the mail today! Hurrah. I have been dying to try this stuff out. For those of you who are in the pitiful dark, nutritional yeast is the vegan cheese ingredient. It's basically a deactivated yeast that adds a nutty-buttery-cheesy flavour to food and can be used in a whole bunch of things.

I decided to try it out even though there was daal and cauliflower already made for dinner. I present to you fine folk my vegan-cheesy-pasta. Let's get right to it.

That baby in the bottle is Nutritional Yeast

What You Need (serves 2)

1/2 packet of spaghetti
3 garlic pods
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
1.5 ts black pepper
sea salt to taste
one tomato diced
1/2 onion
1 green pepper (capsicum)
1/2 cup cashew nuts
1/2 cup almond milk
5 tb olive oil
3 tb flour (maida)
2-3 green chilies (optional if you like it spicy, I sure as hell do)
an assortment of your favorite seasoning ( I used chili flake, oregano, dried basil leaves, thyme, and some KEYA brand all-purpose seasoning)


How to Make

First we'll make our cashew paste. In a blender add your cashew nuts, chilies, garlic pods, onion, pepper and some sea salt. Add a little bit of almond milk and blend. You should get a slightly thick paste.

Now, we'll make the vegan white sauce. On a low flame heat up your olive oil and add your almond milk. It will look weird, acknowledge the weirdness. then slowly add your flour in and keep stirring constantly, you want to avoid any lumps. Once the sauce starts to thicken add your cashew paste and stir.

That's how vegan white sauce looks. Don't judge.

Hopefully you've heated up the water and added your spaghetti, cook it exactly 11 minutes and drain.

You can add your tomatoes and green peppers to the sauce and let it cook for a couple minutes. This is a great time to make it your OWN- add all the seasoning you want at this time. Go crazy, taste for salt, and add whatever till it tastes like heaven.

You don't want the tomatoes or the peppers to overcook, you kind of want them semi-raw for full flavour. Put off the heat and add your spaghetti to the sauce mix well and eat HOT.

Notes on Nutritional Yeast: It does give it a very creamy nutty texture. I wouldn't go so far to say it tastes like cheese, but you can make it cheesier in other recipes by using vinegar or miso paste. But that adventure will have to wait for another time. I do think it tastes like alfredo sauce, so this is a great vegan alternative to alfredo pasta!

Now Pretend You're in Italy

Aite, I should go get ready for bed. I also should shower because I am disgusting from my core hatha yoga class this evening. Until then, be good, be wise, and keep it real.