Elevated Fettuccine Alfredo

by Rev. Chef Beth Love

This is a RADICAL makeover of a dish that is traditionally made with butter, cream, and cheese. You can hardly get less healthy than that! This recipe, like many plant-based versions, uses cashews to create the creaminess of a classic alfredo sauce, but it goes one step further, increasing fiber and reducing fat and calories through the addition of a white sweet potato. And if you choose soymilk as your plant-based milk of choice, that gives it a big protein boost! Plus, like all my dishes, it gets its flavor from healthy whole foods rather than added salt, sugar, and oil. Enjoy!

Yield:

About 6–8 servings

Ingredients:

• 1 cup cashews, soaked overnight (measure before soaking)
• 1¾ cups unsweetened plant-based milk, or more for consistency (see note)
• ½ cup white-fleshed sweet potato, steamed and peeled
• 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• ¾ cup nutritional yeast, divided
• 8 ounces whole grain fettuccine noodles, uncooked
• ¼ cup raw pecans
• large pinch ground sumac, optional
• fresh parsley, minced, or basil, cut chiffonade style, optional

Directions:

1. Put a large pot of water on to boil.
2. Put cashews, plant-based milk, sweet potatoes, vinegar, lemon juice, and ½ cup nutritional yeast in a blender.
3. Blend until smooth, stopping the blender and scraping down as needed.
4. When the water comes to a boil, add the pasta and stir it.
5. Bring the water back to a boil and keep it boiling, stirring occasionally to keep pasta from sticking together.
6. Pour the sauce out of the blender into a heavy-bottomed pan. Heat the sauce, stirring as needed to keep from sticking. The sauce will thicken as it cooks. Add additional plant-based milk or water out of the pasta pot if it gets too thick.
7. Make pecan parmesan topping by grinding pecans, remaining ¼ cup nutritional yeast, and sumac together in a spice grinder, blender, or small food processor. Set aside.
8. When the pasta is al dente, drain it and put the drained pasta in a serving bowl.
9. Pour the sauce over the pasta and gently fold to coat all of the pasta.
10. Sprinkle with fresh herbs, if using.
11. Serve with pecan parmesan on the side for people to sprinkle over their own servings.

Notes, Substitutions, and Variations:

• You can make your own plant-based milk by blending ½ cup nuts with 4 cups water in a blender until smooth, then straining it. Cashews do not need straining, and are a great choice for this dish, because you can simply get an extra half-cup when purchasing ingredients.
• One good gluten-free pasta choice is brown rice pasta. It does not fall apart or turn to mush easily.
• This recipe does not reheat very well, as the pasta can get mushy with too much cooking. If you are making it for a party or a large family, increase the recipe. If you are making it for just one or two people, you may consider halving it.
• Add a clove or two of chopped garlic to the sauce before blending.
• Substitute steamed white potato and a soft date for the sweet potato.
• To make a version that is lower in fat, reduce or eliminate cashews and substitute some steamed peeled potatoes in their place.
• Traditionally Fettuccine Alfredo is very simple and very unhealthy, given that it is white flour pasta with butter, cream, and Parmesan cheese. This version mimics the simplicity with healthier ingredients. You can increase the nutritional value and flavor further with one or more additions such as mushrooms, peppers, asparagus, broccoli, and/or onions.