Tomato basil penne with cashew cream, vegan

We don't do much dairy in our house, so as with many folks we tend to use blended cashews to add the sometimes creamy quality that so many recipes benefit from. Below is a recipe that Victor came up with and wrote out, as he seeks to let go of his love of dairy, which neither our daughter nor I partake in.
While the virtues of whip cream cannot be denied, in the making of this dish I discovered a few advantages the humble cashew has over its dairy counterpart. The first is the thickness. Cream is cream for the most part and there is a viscosity that you cannot go beyond (unless of course you move up to cheese, but that’s another story). I found in the making of the cashew cream that depending on the ratio of cashews to liquid you could make it as thick as yogurt or as thin as full cream (or even milk). In the end I opted for a cream (or maybe technically a sauce) that was a little thicker than full cream.
The second advantage is flavour. While the flavour profile of cream is little sweet, but overall fairly neutral, cashew cream is not. You definitely taste the cashews, and this, I will posit, is to be celebrated, and not lamented. While many vegetarian recipes seek the holy grail of tasting like “insert-meat-or-dairy-equivalent-here,” I think we should explore the possibilities of each nut/seed/vegetable for its own sake. In the case of the cashew cream, instead of just using water to liquefy the nut, I added veggie stock, a hit of Better than Bouillon veg paste, and some engevita yeast. What emerged was not “cream,” but a beautifully emulsified sauce that, like cream, coated each penne tube with a velvety umami flavour. And another wonderful quality of the cashew cream is that it is adaptable. In my next batch, I plan to add some curry - but that’s a story for another day.
Ingredients (serves 8)
- 1 teaspoon salt (divided)
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon chili flake (more or less depending on your taste)
- 1 teaspoon dry oregano (2 teaspoon fresh)
- 6 tablespoons olive oil (divided)
- 1 tablespoon of engevita (or nutritional) yeast
- 1 teaspoon Better Than Bouillon veggie paste
- 1 1/2 cups veggie stock
- 1 cup raw cashews
- 3 cups cherry tomatoes halved
- 2 shallots chopped coarsely
- 1/2 cup white wine
- 6 medium cloves garlic minced
- 2 tablespoons of tomato paste
- 1 cup of basil leaves coarsely chopped (divided)
- One bunch of kale (about 6 cups loosely packed, bite-sized pieces)
- 1 cup of pasta water
- 500 g of penne (or pasta of your choice).
Directions
Before you begin, be warned that you’ll need a big saucepan for this recipe as it stands, as we like to have leftovers for lunch or dinner the next day. We have a jumbo stainless pan that measures 12 inches across by three inches deep. In lieu of a large saucepan you can also cook in a pot. If the recipe is too much for your pans, just divide in half.
- Add olive oil (2 of the 6 tablespoons) to a large stainless steel saucepan. Put in kale and sauté over medium heat with 1/4 teaspoon salt until it reaches the doneness you like (about 5-10 minutes). Set aside the kale.
- While kale is cooking set a large pot of water to boil for the pasta. Add 2 tablespoons of salt to the water.
- Add remaining 4 tablespoons of olive oil to the saucepan over medium heat and add 3 cups of halved cherry tomatoes. Add 3/4 teaspoon of salt, 1/2 teaspoon of pepper and chili flakes and teaspoon of oregano. Sauté until the tomatoes start to release their liquid and some of it evaporates (about 5 min).
- While tomatoes are cooking add 1 cup of cashews, 1 teaspoon of Better Than Bouillon veggies paste and 1 tablespoon of engevita yeast to a high speed blender. Add half of the veggie stock (3/4 cup) and blend at high speed until cashews become a smooth paste. Check the thickness, add more stock and blend until it reaches your desired consistency.
- Add 2 chopped shallots to pan and sauté for 5 more minutes until shallots turn translucent.
- Add pasta to water and cook until 2 minutes before cooking instructions say it’s done or when you bite and the outside is soft but not quite done in the middle. Pour off 1 cup of pasta water in a bowl and set aside. Then strain the rest of the pasta in a colander.
- Add 2 tablespoons of tomato paste to pan, integrate and cook til the tomato paste browns a little (about 3-4 minutes). Then add 6 minced cloves of garlic and sauté for 3-4 minutes. Add 1/2 cup of white wine and deglaze pan. Cook until wine evaporates.
- Add cooked kale and stir into sauce.
- Add the pasta to the sauce pan. Add the pasta water to the saucepan. Integrate the sauce, pasta and pasta water (the pasta water will help bind the sauce to the pasta).
- Add the 1/2 the cashew cream and stir in. Taste and keep adding cream until pasta reaches desired creaminess. Add salt or pepper to taste.
- Add 1/2 cup of fresh basil and stir in.
- Plate pasta and garnish by generously sprinkling remaining 1/2 cup of fresh basil divided on each serving.