I mentioned in an earlier post (Quick Portobello Pizzas) that I have been trying to find new ways to use No Evil Italian Sausage as it is tasty, low in fat, and high in protein. I paired it with some pasta and a versatile fettuccine sauce from eatplant-based.com along with sun-dried tomatoes, mushrooms, and peas. Not only is it tasty, but this dish is so easy, quick, healthy, and filling! Of course you could sub in other veggies as well- fresh baby spinach, roasted kale, zucchini, broccoli, etc. Quick note--you need a Vitamix or very high powered blender for this recipe.
Serves 4
(Note: if you are cooking for 2, I would make all the sauce and store what you don't use in fridge for later use. Halve the ingredients for the pasta section and use half the sauce.)
Ingredients
Sauce
1/2 cup raw cashews (no need to soak them if you use a Vitamix)
1 cup unsweetened plant milk
1-2 tsp lemon juice (or 1 tsp vinegar)
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
4 garlic cloves
2 tbsp arrowroot power
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
1/2-1 tsp salt
Pepper to taste
Pasta
2 links No Evil Italian Sausage
1 carton sliced white, baby bella, or cremini mushrooms
1/3-1/2 cup sun-dried tomatoes (not in oil preferably, but either way is fine), chopped
1 tsp garlic powder
1 1/2-2 cups frozen green peas
Optional: 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
1 bag Traders Joes Brown Rice and Quinoa Fusilli pasta or your favorite pasta
Garnish: store bought vegan parmesan or rawmesan here
Instructions:
Pour boiling water over cashews and soak for 1 hour. If you have a high-powered blender such as a Vitamix, you can skip this step. I soak mine if I have time to ensure a very smooth sauce.
Put all sauce ingredients in a Vitamix or other high powered blender and blend on high until sauce is smooth, warm, and slightly thick-about 1-2 minutes. Taste and adjust seasoning.
Put the pasta on to boil.
Cut the casing off of the sausage link(s) and quickly pulse the links in a food processor such as a Cuisinart to crumble the sausage. Be careful not to process it too much, you want some chunks. Alternatively, you can chop them with a knife.
Saute the sausage crumbles in a few spritzes of olive oil or 1 tbsp of olive oil for about 2 minutes. Push the sausage aside or remove from the pan and add the mushrooms. Saute the mushrooms with a pinch of salt and garlic powder until browned, adding peas toward the end. Add sausage back to pan and add the red pepper flakes. Warm until heated through.
Once the pasta is ready, reserve 1/2 cup of the pasta water (just in case you need extra liquid) and drain the pasta. Return the pasta to the pot. Add veggie/sausage mixture and the sauce to the pasta and stir. Add pasta water 1 tablespoon at a time if necessary to thin the sauce (I didn't need it for mine).
Ladle the pasta into serving dishes and sprinkle with vegan parmesan or rawmesan.
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