Vegan Tomato Pasta & Cashew "Ricotta" Cheese

The other night I was feeling a little under the weather and decided to make myself a nice big bowl of pasta. Pasta is so comforting isn't it!? I decided to keep it healthy by loading it with veggies and keeping it plant based. I was going to use normal ricotta cheese but I didn't have any in the fridge and had some cashews soaking in water that I was going to use for something else so I innovated and created my own cashew "Ricotta"! (If you haven't experimented with cashews you will be blown away by their versatility!)

The result was soo delicious! It had plenty of flavour from the chillies and tomatoes and the cashew ricotta was perfect to toss through and add some creaminess! I will be making this again and again!

Vegan Tomato Pasta & Cashew Ricotta Cheese- serves 4.

Ingredients:

• 1 can of diced tomatoes
• 2 cloves of garlic minced
• 1 red capsicum diced
• 2 cups of sliced mushrooms
• 1 tbsp dried italian herbs
• 1/3 cup of sundried tomatoes
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tbsp chilli flakes
• a packet of spaghetti pasta
• salt and peper to taste

Cashew Ricotta Cheese:

• 1 cup of soaked raw cashews in water (minimum 2 hours- best overnight)
• 1/2 cup of water
• 1 tbsp of nutritional yeast 
• 1 tsp of salt

Instructions:

1. Boil some water and cook your pasta following the packet instructions.
2. Cook in a pan with olive oil the chopped capsicum and minced garlic.
3. Add in the mushrooms.
4. Add the chilli flakes, dried herbs and cook until mushrooms and capsicum are cooked.
5. Add in the sundries tomatoes and the can of diced tomatoes and simmer on low heat.
6. Once the pasta is cooked, drained and mix with the sauce. 

For the cashew ricotta:

1. Mix them in a blender with the water, salt and nutritional yeast until creamy.
2. Serve a large dollop on each pasta bowl to add a cheesy creamy factor!
3. Once cashews are soaked, discard the water and rinse them.

Hope you enjoy this healthy vegan pasta with the cashew Ricotta. 

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