Penne Pasta With Creamy Red Pepper Sauce

June 10, 2008

I made this red pepper cheesy pasta for lunch. It’s sort of like a red pepper baked ziti or an adult mac and cheese. It’s good and healthy and I think I might make it again.

But I think the recipe needs a tiny bit of tweaking. If you can figure it out, please let me know. Maybe omit the soy sauce and add a bit more salt? Or add a tiny dash of crushed red peppers? Yeah I think that would be good! Anyway, here is the pic and the original recipe.

Ingredients:

  • 1 pound of penne pasta (preferably pure semolina pasta)
  • 3 tbsp olive oil
  • 1/2 an onion
  • 1 red bell pepper
  • 1 clove garlic
  • 2/3 cup cashews
  • 1/4 cup nutritional yeast
  • 1/2 cup water
  • 3 tbsp lemon juice
  • 1 tbsp soy sauce (or not)
  • 1 tsp salt (or more to taste)
  • optional: 1 tsp of crushed red pepper flakes

Directions: Combine the garlic, cashews, yeast, water, lemon juice, soy sauce, and salt with half of the red bell pepper in a food processor or blender and blend. Set aside. Chop the onion and the rest of the red bell pepper and set aside. Fill a large pot with water, bring to a boil, and cook the pasta. Drain the pasta. In a large skillet, heat the olive oil and add the chopped onion and red pepper. Saute on medium heat for about 7 minutes until the onion turns clear. Add the cashew blend and stir. Bring the sauce to a boil. Add the pasta and stir until pasta is completely covered in sauce. Turn off the heat and serve with a salad. Serves four or more.

By the way, here’s how this recipe is healthy. Cashews give you protein, fiber, iron, and fat. Nutritional yeast gives you B vitamins, potassium, protein, and fiber. The pasta gives you zinc, folate, iron, magnesium, and other nutrients as well as a good dose of carbohydrates which will give you energy. The onion and garlic offer vitamin C, B6, and other nutrients. The red pepper is a great source of vitamin C. And the recipe has no cholesterol, no added sugar, and if you’re watching your salt intake, you can easily remove the salt. It takes about 20 minutes to half an hour to prepare, making it a quick vegan lunch or dinner. Enjoy! :)

Posted by Elaine Vigneault | Filed Under Food, veganism 

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