summer garden pasta with creamy cashew-miso sauce + tomato relish
{vegan, gluten-free, plant-based, dairy-free, FODMAP friendly}
Last week my family and I rented a beautiful home in the Montecito neighborhood of Santa Barbara. The house was set high up in the hills and overlooked the Santa Barbara and Ventura County coastline. We had a pool, hot tub, BBQ, a breathtaking view (pictures to come!), so naturally we didn't want to leave our lavish digs.
Since there were usually between six and eight of us for dinner, we wanted to plan meals that were simple and could feed a large group of people. I scoured through some of my favorite cookbooks to find some tasty, family style recipes. This pasta dish was adapted from one of my favorite vegetarian cookbooks, Love and Lemons by Jeanine Donofrio. Jeanine's recipe uses roasted brussel sprouts which would be delicious, but brussel sprouts really make my IBS symptoms flair up. You can honestly throw in whatever vegetables you fancy and substitute ingredients depending on what's in season. We easily doubled this recipe and had leftovers to take on our picnic lunch in wine country the following day.
We grilled the corn to give it a nicely charred flavor, however, you could cook the corn in a grill pan, boil it, or use an alternate vegetable altogether. We had one little lonely Mexican squash lying around, so we sauteed it with a bit of olive oil, salt and pepper, and threw it into the mix as well.
I found fresh baby heirloom tomatoes at the market, but cherry tomatoes would work just as well. The tomato relish adds a pop of color and gets more flavorful the longer it marinates, so feel free to make it a few hours ahead of time. Tomatoes tend to dry out if they spend too much time in the refrigerator; if you do make the relish in advance, leave it out at room temperature and just cover it with plastic wrap.
The cashews for the cashew cream need to be soaked at least 4 hours, or up to 12 (I usually let them soak overnight)--so be sure to plan ahead! In this case, I had some cashew cream on hand so I added it to the sauce separately. However, if you're making the cashew cream exclusively for this recipe, you can save a step and just soak your cashews in filtered water, rinse and drain them, and then add them to the remaining sauce ingredients, along with a 1/2 cup of water and salt to taste; blend everything together until smooth. We used the Trader Joe's brown rice and quinoa spaghetti noodles, but the original recipe calls for fettuccine noodles (I couldn't find any gluten-free ones).
Total: 30-40 minutes | Prep: 20-30 minutes | Cook: 7-10 minutes | Serves 4
//Tools//
deep pot for cooking pasta
immersion blender or high-powered blender
cutting board
sharp knife
small mixing bowl
grill, grill pan or deep pot for cooking corn
optional saute pan if using squash
//Ingredients//
high quality olive oil
*2 ears of corn, silk removed
optional one large Mexican or summer squash cut in half lengthwise and sliced into quarter-inch rounds (can also be used in lieu of corn)
regular or gluten-free spaghetti or fettuccine noodles (I use the quinoa and brown rice pasta from Trader Joe's)
optional chili flakes to garnish
dairy-free parmesan, brazil nut parmesan or freshly grated parmesan reggiano
salt and pepper to taste
tomato relish:
1 1/2 cups of heirloom or regular cherry tomatoes
2 tablespoons basil cut into a chiffonade, plus more for garnish (about 1/2 cup)
*one large clove of garlic
2 tablespoons of high quality olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
creamy cashew-miso sauce
**one to two cloves of garlic
1/2 cup cashew cream
1 tablespoon white miso paste
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon Dijon mustard
salt and pepper to taste
//Directions//
1. Slice the cherry tomatoes in half or quarters (if larger) and place them in a small bowl along with two tablespoons of basil, garlic (optional) and olive oil. Cover, and allow the tomato mixture to marinate at room temperature.
2. Prepare the creamy cashew-miso sauce by combining the cashew cream (or soaked and rinsed cashews + 1/2 cup water), miso paste, garlic, lemon, Dijon mustard and salt and pepper to taste. Whiz together in a large Pyrex measuring cup or bowl using an immersion blender, or place ingredients in a high-powered blender, and pulse until the mixture is smooth (about one minute or so depending on the blender).
3. Fill a deep pot with filtered water and salt and bring it to a boil. Meanwhile, lightly coat the **corn with olive oil, salt and pepper. Cook on the grill or in a grill pan for about 3-4 minutes, until the corn is lightly charred but the kernels are still plump. Alternatively, boil the corn for about 3-5 minutes. Allow the corn to cool before removing the kernels and setting aside. If using Mexican squash, lightly saute it until it is slightly brown and still a bit firm.
4. When the water comes to a rapid bowl, add the pasta and cook according to instructions (seven minutes is usually the sweet spot for gluten-free pasta). Make sure you keep the water boiling the entire time. Once the pasta is al dente, drain it (reserving one cup of the pasta water) and immediately place it back into the pot. Mix in the sauce until the pasta is evenly coated. If the sauce is too thick, add some of the pasta water to thin it out. Next, stir in the tomato relish, corn and/or squash. Garnish with your favorite parmesan, the remaining basil and red pepper flakes. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Bon appetit!
//Notes//
*Swap Mexican squash or zucchini for corn if following a low FODMAP diet and leave out garlic.
**Alternatively, you can use frozen corn to save time. Defrost and cook according to package instructions.
