We’ll start by making the base for the sauce in the blender. Add your cashews, soymilk, nutritional yeast (WYW Nooch is our favorite, naturally) and a whole can of pumpkin puree to the blender. If you’re not using a high-speed blender like a VitaMix, you’ll want to soak the cashews in the soymilk for at least 20 minutes (preferably 2-4 hours) before blending.

Start blending and slowly add enough vegetable stock to keep the ingredients moving. Crank your blender up to high speed and let it go for a minute or so to get it as smooth as possible. You’ll probably need most (if not all) of the quart by the time it’s all said and done but just use enough in the blender to get everything creamed together. Be sure to look for low or no-salt versions in the store (or make your own from reserved vegetable scraps)!

Next we’ll need to do a little chopping. Dice the onions, slice the mushrooms, and head over to the stove. Put on a pot of water to boil and cook the pasta according to the directions on the package. Then, get your sauté pan nice and hot. Pour in a little veggie stock and add the onions and mushrooms to sauteé. This is called “water sauteéing” where we simply use water or a water-based liquid (like veggie stock) instead of oil to cook our vegetables. It’s the easiest cooking hack to start cutting the unnecessary artery-clogging oil from your diet so you can be healthier and happier!

While sauteéing the vegetables, the liquid will evaporate. Just add a bit more to the pan to keep the vegetables from sticking. I’ve noticed that by the time my sauteé liquid drys up twice, my veggies are usually cooked perfectly. Once the onions and mushrooms are tender, add the garlic, sage, rosemary, thyme, nutmeg (freshly grated is the best!), and another splash of veggie stock to the pan to cook for another minute or two. This will help release the flavors of the herbs.

Finally, add the pumpkin-cashew blender mix to the pan and stir while continuing to cook. The mixture will thicken as it cooks; add the remainder of the vegetable stock to thin it out, creating the perfect saucy consistency. By this time your pasta will likely be finished cooking, so drain it and add it back to the pot.

Stir in as much of the pumpkin sauce as you like. We like our pasta pretty saucy, so we used almost the entire recipe, which makes enough to coat about a pound of cooked pasta. If you have any sauce left over, it will keep in the fridge for about a week. It also freezes well, so you can save it to make again later, which we know you’ll want to!

Last but not least, add a couple handfuls of fresh baby spinach to wilt as you stir it in the hot pasta. Crack a little fresh black pepper on top, maybe sprinkle on a little Stardust if you feel it could use a little salt-free saltiness, and add a little more Nooch on top if you like. We always enjoy adding some flavor boosts before we tuck in just to make sure our eyes fully roll back in our heads after that first bite!

We use “overt fats” (nuts, seeds, avocados, etc.) very sparingly but for this recipe, we felt the cashews were key to achieving the creamy consistency we were going for but if you need to completely avoid overt fats, our Mushroom Gravy Mix would work as a fantastic fat-free substitute. It contains so many of the flavors we’re using in this recipe including mushrooms, rosemary, sage, and thyme as well as parsley and marjoram, which would perfectly compliment the autumnal flavors we’re going for. Additionally, it contains dried russet potatoes, which will help thicken up the sauce similar to the cashews.

We hope this recipe becomes a new Fall favorite for you like it has for us! Be sure to follow us on Instagram @wyw_community and let us know what you think if you make it. We love hearing your feedback! Also, be sure to visit our YouTube channel where we’ve created a whole playlist of our favorite Fall recipes.

Til Next Time! Xoxo Reebs

wellyourworld.com

Pumpkin Alfredo

A creamy autumnal pasta featuring everyones favorite gourd

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Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup cashews
• 1 cup soymilk
• 1 yellow onion, diced
• 1/2-1 pound mushrooms, diced
• 1 quart veggie stock, divided
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• 1 1/2 teaspoon thyme
• 1 1/2 teaspoon rosemary
• 1 1/2 teaspoon sage
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/4 cup nooch
• pinch black pepper
• 1 can pumpkin
• spinach
• cooked pasta

Instructions:

Add the cashews, soymilk, and pumpkin to a high speed blender and blend until smooth, adding vegetable stock as needed to thoroughly blend all the ingredients. Set aside.

Add the onions and mushrooms to a pan and saute, adding a bit of veggie stock to keep from sticking. Once the onions and mushroom are tender, add the thyme, rosemary, sage, nutmeg, nutritional yeast, and black pepper along with a splash of veggie broth, and continue to saute for a couple more minutes.

Add the pumpkin and cashew/soy milk mixture as well as 1-2 cups of veggie stock. Just add enough stock to reach the sauce thickness you desire. Stir well and simmer for a few minutes to cook all the flavors together.

Add the cooked pasta and a couple handfuls of chopped spinach. Stir well and serve!