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Friday, September 13, 2013

Vegan MoFo Day 13 - Free Fridays - Creamy green pasta sauce with homemade gnocchi


This week my theme for Free Friday is called Flashback Friday. Back in my vegetarian days I used to make a decadent cream and parmesan based pasta sauce to serve over potato gnocchi on a semi-regular basis which was a favourite meal with my fellows. The gnocchi was hand made if I could afford the time as it was so much softer and lighter than any gnocchi that came out of a packet. In my early vegan days and prior to discovering the almighty powers of cashews I made a vegan version of the pasta sauce which turned out rather well. This dish had slipped my mind until I started to crave gnocchi recently (my gnocchi cravings are similar to pizza and taco cravings, once they resurface they have to be fuelled).


The creamy sauce used to be stirred through sautéed garlic, mushrooms, spring onions, sun-dried tomatoes and wilted spinach leaves before it was poured on top of the gnocchi. I was all set to recreate it this way until Kari from Bite-sized thoughts posted a recipe for a pureed spinach and white bean pasta sauce recently. I adored the colour in Kari's pasta sauce and even though I still made my own cashew based sauce I changed up the method and blended the spinach in with the rest of the sauce ingredients which resulted in a vibrant green sauce.


The mushrooms and sun-dried tomatoes were hidden by this colourful sauce and I will be tempted to omit them next time I make this as the sauce is flavourful enough without them. I loved this sauce so much I won't be waiting until I can bothered making gnocchi again as the sauce would be great with any type of pasta. As I don't have time to post a version of the gnocchi recipe right now, here is the link to the recipe I have referred to for many years which always results in extremely soft gnocchi that almost melts in your mouth.


Creamy green pasta sauce 

½ cup raw unsalted cashews
1 1/3 cups soy milk
1/3 cup nutritional yeast
1 teaspoon sea salt
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon lemon juice
30 fresh basil leaves
100g baby spinach leaves
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced

Optional extras
100-150g button mushrooms, sliced
50g sundried tomatoes, drained of oil and cut into thin strips
4 spring onions, sliced
freshly cracked black pepper

Place the cashews, soy milk, nutritional yeast, sea salt, Dijon mustard and lemon juice in a blender and process until no chunks of cashews remain and the sauce is smooth. Add the basil and spinach leaves and blend until smooth, scraping down the sides a few times of necessary to incorporate any stray pieces of basil and spinach.

Heat the oil in a large pan over medium heat and fry the garlic for 30 seconds or until fragrant and starting to colour slightly. If using mushrooms, add them to the pan and saute until they have softened and released their juices. Pour in the contents of the blender then rinse out the blender jar with ¼ - ½ cup of water and add this to the pan. Stir through the sundried tomatoes and spring onions (if using) and allow the sauce to heat through. Serve with pasta of your choice garnished with freshly cracked black pepper.

16 comments:

  1. That sauce looks amazing, I love the colour and bet it tastes wonderful! I rarely make gnocchi but I have made a fried version before and I have sweet potato gnocchi planned for this MoFo. Thanks for sharing your recipe, I'm going to try it out!

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    1. Thanks Mandee, I loved the colour as much as the flavour. Looking forward to reading about your sweet potato gnocchi and I hope you enjoy this if you give it a try.!

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  2. Yum- looks like a great quick meal, will be trying it!

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    1. Thanks Kate, the sauce is nice and quick. Hope you like it!

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  3. I love homemade gnocchi so, so much, and that sauce looks unreal creamy. I'm definitely going to try this some time!

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    1. Thanks Claryn, I adore homemade gnocchi too and should make it more often. Hope you enjoy this too!

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  4. I've always been terrified of making gnocchi, but you make it seem so accessible. This year it must happen! Also, green non-pesto sauce? Sounds awesome!

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    1. Thanks Jes, I don't find gnocchi anywhere near as difficult as making filled pasta which seems to takes forever. I have made gnocchi several times so I do have the hang of it. The sauce did have a bit of a pesto vibe with the basil leaves added.

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  5. That sauce sounds so flavorful, kind of like a creamy pesto. I made homemade gnocchi once or twice after I first went vegan. As much as I adore gnocchi, David isn't the biggest fan. So it's hard to want to spend the extra time in the kitchen when it's something just for me. Frozen isn't quite the same, but I still like it.

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    1. Thanks Cadry, it was quite similar to a creamy pesto. What a shame that David isn't a fan of gnocchi, it would be difficult to be motivated to make it just to please yourself. I hold off on loads of recipes my husband isn't fond of as it doesn't seem worthwhile. I would opt for frozen if I was in your shoes too!

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  6. that green sauce is beautiful - will bookmark it and I will have to try your tried and true gnocchi recipe - I don't have one and need one

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    1. Thanks Johanna, I was most impressed with the vibrant green colour! Do you own a potato ricer? I forgot to mention in my post that I always use this utensil which gives the gnocchi such a lovely smooth texture. A fine sieve also does the trick but makes the job a fair bit messier - potato ricers make fantastic mashed spuds too!

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  7. I'm going to have to swap and try this sauce next :) The colour is beautiful and I imagine with the nutritional yeast and mustard it is flavour filled in the best kind of way. Impressive gnocchi making, too!

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    1. Thanks Kari, I still have your sauce on my list to try as I don't eat a lot of white beans and really love the sound of your recipe. I adore the combination of cashews, nutritional yeast and mustard in cheesy sauces.

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  8. I know what you mean by gnocchi cravings, I have them now after reading the post.

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    1. Thanks rosalie, reading blogs is a sure fire way to kick off the cravings too!

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