Linguine Primavera With Creamy Cashew Sauce

Submitted by Sharon123

"This is said to have been invented in America, at the Le Cirque restaurant in New York City, but is common in Italy. Adapted from the Vegetarian Times magazine."

 

• Ready In: 32mins
• Ingredients: 13
• Serves: 4

ingredients

• 1 lb whole wheat linguine
• 1 1⁄2 lbs asparagus spears, cut into 1-inch pieces
• 2 small zucchini, cut into half circles
• 1 cup raw cashews
• 1⁄2 teaspoon onion powder
• 3⁄4 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups soymilk (or whole milk)
• 3 cups grape tomatoes, halved lengthwise
• 6 scallions, finely minced
• 1⁄4 cup minced fresh basil
• 1⁄4 cup minced fresh flat-leaf parsley
• fresh ground black pepper
• freshly grated parmesan cheese, to taste

directions

1. Cook linguine according to package directions,in a large pot of lightly salted boiling water, stirring occasionally. After 7 minutes, add asparagus and zucchini. Continue cooking, stirring occasionally, until pasta is al dente and vegetables are tender, 5 to 7 minutes more. Drain well, and return to pot.
2. Meanwhile, put cashews, onion powder and salt in blender, and grind fine. Add soymilk, and blend until smooth and creamy. Set aside.
3. Add cashew mix, tomatoes, scallions, basil, parsley, salt and pepper to the pasta mixture. Sprinkle with cheese, to taste. Toss gently to combine, and heat over low heat, stirring frequently, 3 to 4 minutes, or until hot.

Reviews

[jessi_mcg]

Oh boy, I really loved this. I used green beans and broccoli instead of asparagus (so the kids would eat it), and added a bit of garlic to the sauce. I added the milk slowly and only ended up using about 1 cup, so maybe the thickness of the sauce can be adjusted that way? I found that the tomatoes cooked a bit when stirred in with everything else. More than anything I love the nutrition in this dish--I had no problem feeding it to my 10 month old, and she had no problem devouring it! Even my die-hard alfredo fan DH enjoyed it, which is a real win. Thanks, Sharon! Made for Veg Swap 36.

 

[VegSocialWorker]

Yum, this is delish. I left out the cheese and it was still very tasty. The other change I made was to roast the tomatoes so they wouldn't be the only raw veggie. The fresh herbs are essential, I think, and the basil was just so wonderful. Next time I will add roasted garlic to the cashew sauce and a little more salt. I would probably not mix everything together, but that's just my personal preference. Thanks for posting, I would (and will) make this again!

 

[WI Cheesehead]

Wonderful dish! I made a few changes, but kept to the spirit of the dish: I halved the pasta and veggies (even less on the tomato). I used half w.w. and half spinach spaghetti. Used asparagus but will use broccoli next time, so the kids eat it :). Used half and half and some 1%. The sauce was really liquidy, so I added some cornstarch and microwaved it for 5 minutes to thicken it up. Then added the spices (2 tsp. parsley & 1 tsp basil-dried) Needed some salt after done (I had decreased bcz my cashews were salted). After micro'ing the sauce, I added it to the noodle/veggies and separately added the tomatos and onions to my portion. All in all, a great dish. It reminded me of fettucine alfredo. I added some leftover meatballs on the side. Thanks Sharon!