How To Make Dairy-Free, Nut-Free, Creamy Asparagus Pasta
I’m a human and I just don’t feel like cooking after coming home from a full day of filming. Luckily, I have a couple of meals for such days – these are simple, quick to make, and most importantly, nutritious. Asparagus pasta is one of such meals – it’s super creamy and loaded with greens, just how I want my pasta to be. There’s no dairy or nuts in this recipe, so you can eat a full plate and it won’t leave you with a heavy feeling in your belly.
Creamy and Delicious Without Heavy Cream. What’s The Trick, Chef?
Eating wholefood meals doesn’t mean that we have to give up on our fave dishes with creamy sauces. Nature gave us wonderful cashew nuts, which are a great and nutritious replacement for store-bought cream. But what when you are allergic to cashew nuts? Coconut cream is your best ally, my friends. I always choose 100% pure coconut cream with no weird ingredients and my creamy sauces turn just fine.
But that’s not all! To transform this meal into a truly epic experience, the cream needs to be enriched with flavours. My secret ingredient for this pasta are preserved lemons. This is such a glorious product to have in your pantry because it lifts the flavours of your meals to a new dimension. It made the entire dish very refreshing and light with a bit of zing to it. It took me some time to master the art of preserving lemons, and I’m so grateful I finally did. For this sauce, I used only the rind because the soft part is very strong and I didn’t want it to overpower all the other flavours. Couple this with some garlic and fresh green chilli and you just got yourself a flavour bomb!
So, we’ve got a creamy sauce and flavours, what else do we need to make your taste buds sing with joy when eating this asparagus pasta? We need to play with textures and load this vegan pasta with some good old greens. Asparagus is the star of this recipe, so make sure that you don’t overcook it but keep it crunchy. Besides asparagus and its lovely green colour, you can add any other greens you like such as broccoli or spinach. I had a bag of rocket salad sitting in my fridge, so I thought: Hmmm, what if I just add this to my pasta to give it a lovely crunch?
That’s it actually, there’s no other science behind this recipe. Oh, if you feel like it, you can sprinkle your asparagus pasta with some nutritional yeast or parmesan. My mates and I liked it with fried onions.
Asparagus Pasta Recipe!
~INGREDIENTS~
- A splash of Olive Oil (optional)
- 2 bunches of Asparagus, ends trimmed and discarded, soft parts halved
- 1 bulb of Garlic, smashed, peeled, and chopped
- 2 Green Chilies, sliced
- 1/4 Preserved Lemon Rind, sliced
- 1 cup Coconut Cream
- A bunch of Rocket Salad
- 240 grams Pasta of your choice, boiled
- Salt and Black Pepper, to taste
- 1 Tbsp #INTENTION
~METHOD~
Preheat a pan, add a splash of olive oil and asparagus halves and season well.
Stir-fry for a minute and then add the garlic, chili, and preserved lemon rind.
Cook for one more minute and then pour in the coconut cream.
Top with the rocket and cooked pasta and stir until coated with the sauce.
Treat yourself with a plate of creamy pasta loaded with greens.
***
Serves: 2
Prep time: 2 mins
Cooking time: 10-15 mins for pasta and 5 mins for sauce
Freezer-friendly: No
C, RSF, DF, NF, VEG, V
You know what’s best about this vegan asparagus pasta? I know it serves my organs because it’s absolutely loaded with goodies from nature. Find my YouTube channel and let me know if this meal made it to the list of recipes you always go to when you need something fast and delicious.
From my kitchen to yours,
Chef Cynthia Louise xx
