Cashew Cream Pasta

Soaking is important if you have a standard blender — without it, the sauce will have a sandy, gritty texture rather than a smooth one. Raw, hard cashews don't break down fully in a regular blender regardless of how long you run it. Two soaking methods work: overnight in cold water (4 to 8 hours), or a quick soak in freshly boiled water for 15 to 20 minutes. The cashew should feel soft and easily compressed before you drain it. If you have a high-powered blender (Vitamix or similar, 900+ watts), you can skip soaking — those machines break down hard nuts completely. Either way, drain and discard the soaking water and use fresh water for blending.

Nutritional yeast (sometimes called 'nooch') is deactivated yeast sold as flakes or powder. It has a naturally cheesy, nutty, umami flavour that makes plant-based sauces taste like they contain dairy cheese. It's what gives this sauce its Parmesan-like quality. Find it in health food shops or the organic aisle of larger supermarkets. If you can't find it: 1 to 2 teaspoons of white miso paste add similar umami depth; a squeeze of extra lemon adds brightness; or a small amount of grated Parmesan works if you're not strictly vegan. None fully replicate the cheesy quality of nutritional yeast, which is worth buying — a bag costs little and keeps for up to a year.

Cashew sauce thickens in two stages: immediately after blending (from the density of the nuts) and again when it hits hot pasta (the pasta's surface starch continues to thicken the sauce). Always thin with reserved pasta water, not tap water — the starch in pasta water helps the sauce emulsify and cling evenly to the noodles. Add it 2 to 3 tablespoons at a time, tossing well each time. In the fridge, the sauce will set very thick — this is normal. When reheating, add a few tablespoons of water or plant milk and warm over low heat, stirring. The sauce should coat the back of a spoon but flow easily off it.

A high-speed blender gives the smoothest result. A food processor works but produces a slightly less silky texture. An immersion (stick) blender works if the cashews are very well soaked. Without any of these: cashew butter (3 to 4 tablespoons diluted with warm water, garlic, lemon juice, and nutritional yeast) produces a similar creamy sauce with a slightly different flavour profile. Silken tofu is another alternative — it blends into a smooth, neutral cream with minimal equipment and takes flavour similarly to cashews. Both produce good results, though neither is identical to blended whole cashews.

Cashew cream is calorie-dense due to the fat content of the nuts — around 150 to 180 kcal per 100 g of finished sauce. A full serving of pasta with cashew cream typically comes to 450 to 550 kcal, similar to pasta in a traditional cream sauce, but without cholesterol or saturated animal fats. The fats in cashews are predominantly monounsaturated, and cashews also provide protein (around 5 g per serving of sauce) and magnesium. To reduce the calorie count: use fewer cashews with more water, add more vegetables (spinach, broccoli, courgette), or serve with a protein-rich pasta such as chickpea or lentil pasta, which adds more protein at lower calorie cost.