Pasta with Creamy Tomato Sauce

Pasta with Creamy Tomato Sauce

 

By Namit Kathoria

 

Preparation time: 10-15 min

Cooking time: 10-15 min

Makes 4-6 servings

 

Ingredients:

250g of any wholegrain pasta or spaghetti (kamut goes really well with this because of the nutty flavor)

Blender mixture

1 cup cashew nuts

2 tablespoons nutritional yeast

1 teaspoon dried thyme

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1 teaspoon dried basil

½ teaspoon hot paprika

¼ teaspoon ground black pepper

½ teaspoon sea salt

2 teaspoons garlic powder

2 teaspoons onion powder

2 tablespoons olive oil

3 tablespoons tomato puree

1 teaspoon maple syrup

1 jar (500g) chopped tomatoes

1 jar (400-500g) chickpeas - drained and rinsed

Garnish

Fresh basil

Olives

Fresh ground black pepper

 

Preparation:

1.      Leave the cashew nuts to soak in boiling water for 15 minutes, then drain and rinse.

2.      Put all the ingredients for the blender mix together and blend for about 1 minute on a relatively high setting on your blender, stop in between to scrape down the sides. If possible, try to keep the mixture crunchy by not blending too long.

3.      Put the blender mixture into a saucepan and simmer for about 10-15 minutes to make it a little thicker.

4.      In the meantime, boil up the spaghetti or the pasta according to the instructions.

5.      Taste the sauce and see if you need to add any more salt, black pepper or of any of the herbs. Then switch off the heat.

6.      Top the pasta with a little bit of olive oil and the sauce. Garnish with fresh basil, some olives and fresh ground black pepper.

 

Did you know?

There are different varieties of basil. In Italy they tend to use sweet basil, whereas in Asia there is Thai basil, lemon basil. Holy basil is used in India. The origins of basil are thought to go back about 5000 years and it was probably first cultivated in India. There are also theories that it was cultivated at that time or even slightly before in Hunan province in China. It wasn’t just important in India (where it is known as holy basil), but also in many other ancient cultures. In fact, in France, it was called l’herbe royal which means the royal herb.

 

Where does your protein come from?

Chickpeas are a good source of protein, as is the wholegrain pasta. It has got cashew nuts which are a good source of protein, and also nutritional yeast.

 

To get more inspiration for healthy plant-based recipes please see our new nutrition and recipe book “Life” which is due to come out in 2022.