Creamy Roasted Veggie Pasta

Name: Creamy Roasted Veggie Pasta
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 25 h
Total time: 25 h 20 min
Yield: 3-4 plates
Ingredients: 1 cauliflower head; 1 small basket (about 0.5lb/8oz/240g) of cherry tomatoes; 1 onion (white or red), sliced; 3 garlic cloves; 1 tsp dry basil; 1 tbsp salt; 1 tsp sweet paprika; 1 tbsp silan; 1/3 cup olive oil; 1/2 cup tap water; 1/2 can lite coconut milk; 3.5oz (100g) tomato paste; 3.5oz (100g) raw unsalted cashews + boiling water (for soaking); Pasta of your choice (for a gluten-free recipe, use GF pasta)

Vegan creamy roasted veggie pasta topped with dairy-free shredded cheese, served in a patterned bowl.

Prep. Time

20 minutes

Cook Time

1:25 hour

Servings

3-4 plates

Difficulty

Challenging

Soy-Free, Gluten-Free, dairy-free, egg-free

Stovetop

Cooking required:

Allergens:

Sometimes pasta just wants to wear a fancier outfit. This one shows up in roasted veggie velvet, with cashews and coconut cream doing their best “we’re totally dairy” impression. The whole thing feels rich, but it’s built on simple tricks: roast a few vegetables you’ve got, let the oven do the heavy lifting, then blitz it all into a sauce so smooth it could pass for Alfredo’s cool vegan cousin. It’s weeknight cooking that looks dressed up for company, but really it’s just you, your blender, and a pot of noodles.

Ingredients

For the Sauce

1 cauliflower head

1 small basket (about 0.5lb/8oz/240g) of cherry tomatoes

1 onion (white or red), sliced

3 garlic cloves

For the Seasoning

1 tsp dry basil

1 tbsp salt

1 tsp sweet paprika

1 tbsp silan

1/3 cup olive oil

1/2 cup tap water

For When the Veggies Are Ready

1/2 can lite coconut milk

3.5oz (100g) tomato paste

3.5oz (100g) raw unsalted cashews + boiling water (for soaking)

Pasta of your choice (for a gluten-free recipe, use GF pasta)

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 420F (210C).
Boil water, and place the cashews in a small glass bowl. Pour the boiling water onto the cashews, and let it soak until the vegetables are ready, or for at least 20 minutes.
Boil water and pour onto the cashews. Cover the dish and let it sit for at least 20 minutes, or up to 1 day (refrigerated).
In an oven-safe dish, place cauliflower florets, sliced onion, whole peeled garlic cloves and whole cherry tomatoes.
Combine the seasoning ingredients, and drizzle as evenly as possible over the vegetables.
Cover with aluminum foil and place in the oven. Bake for 45 minutes.
Remove the foil and place the dish back in the oven for 30 more minutes.
Meanwhile, cook pasta of your choice, and set aside a little cooking water (water from after the pasta is ready), to add it to the sauce later (see why in my notes below).
Take the dish out of the oven and let it cool a little.
In a blender with a steel blade, combine the roasted veggies, coconut milk, tomato paste and soaked cashews, and blend until the resulted sauce is smooth and consistent.
Serve this magnificent sauce with your cooked noodles, or refrigerate up to 3 days.

Notes

Those pasta water work like magic! They are highly starchy and it helps emulsify and thicken sauces to cling better to the noodles.
If needed, silan can be replaced with agava syrup or brown sugar.

The Latest Bite

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When we hosted a summer dinner recently, we wanted something that felt fresh and thoughtful without requiring a lot of time or fuss in the kitchen. This salad came together naturally—raw yellow beet for crunch and earthiness, sweet dried figs for a touch of richness, and peppery arugula balanced by the light, delicate alfalfa sprouts. The date-mustard dressing adds just the right hint of sweetness and tang to bring it all together. It wasn’t meant to steal the show, but quietly complemented the meal and fit perfectly with the relaxed, easygoing atmosphere we hoped to create.