About this vegan cacio e pepe….The other day I asked you all on Instagram to tell me what your favorite pasta dish was and let me tell you – I think you’re all as in love with pasta as I am. I got so many responses (I’ve definitely got my work cut out for me…and I’m not mad about it). I asked partially because I wanted to find a new way to use up all of the pasta I have in my pantry, but mostly because I was curious to learn more about what you all love!
A dish that kept popping up was Cacio e Pepe. It literally means “cheese and pepper,” and traditionally uses just a few ingredients – butter, cheese, pepper, and of course, pasta.
I wanted to challenge myself to make a dairy-free version which I recognize is kind of an LOL because the greatness of the traditional dish lies entirely in the dairy. But…all that meant was that it was time to get creative!
I’m going to be honest. I’m pretty proud of this dish. It was so fun to make, and not only is it completely dairy-free, but just like a traditional Cacio e Pepe it uses just a handful of ingredients. I also wrote and developed this recipe before 10am so I guess you could say I literally couldn’t even wait until a socially acceptable time to make it (but pasta is for all hours of the day, yes?)
There are two primary components of my take on cacio e Pepe – a vegan cheese sauce, and a vegan parmesan. The peppery cheese sauce has notes of garlic and a brightness from lemon juice, and the parmesan is salty and savory. Both of them come together beautifully to create a lot of depth and body in this sauce.
To create the parmesan, all I did was blitz some raw cashews, nutritional yeast, garlic powder, and salt together in my blender until it was a fine, parmesan-like powder. Even though it has probably the least cute name to ever exist, nutritional yeast is the key in this recipe because it has a savory, cheesy taste, while also giving you the benefits of B-vitamins.
As for the sauce, I flash-soaked some raw cashews (soak in boiling water for an hour!) and combined it in my blender with nutritional yeast, garlic, lemon juice, olive oil, salt, pepper, and a bit of warm water to thin. Also note that I made the cream sauce after I made the parmesan — do it in that order, since the parm is dry and the sauce is creamy and ain’t nobody got time to clean the blender twice.
After the I cooked the pasta (I used a gluten-free chickpea spaghetti!) I added the cream sauce, and then the parmesan. Topped with more black pepper and some flaky sea salt (obviously), this pasta is the indulgent, creamy dinner of your dreams.
If you make this recipe, tag me on Instagram @DADAEATS and #DADAEATS so I can see your creations!!
Cacio e Pepe (Vegan, Gluten-Free)
Ingredients
Creamy Cacio e Pepe Cheese Sauce
- 1/2 cup raw cashews, flash soaked (flash soak cashews by soaking for an hour in boiling water)
- 2 tbsp nutritional yeast
- 3 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 3 cloves garlic
- 1/2 tsp pepper
- 1 tsp salt, plus more to taste
- 3 tbsp warm water
- 1 box/8oz spaghetti
Vegan Parmesan
- 1/2 cup cashews
- 3 tbsp nutritional yeast
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp salt, plus more to taste
To top
- 1/2 tsp pepper
- flaky sea salt
Instructions
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For the vegan parmesan, in a blender blitz together cashews, nutritional yeast, garlic powder, and salt to taste. I recommend you make the parmesan before the cream sauce so you don’t have to wash your blender twice (and the parm is dry, the sauce is creamy, of course).
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You won’t be using all of the parmesan that is yielded for this pasta dish (you can of course if you like! But I use about 5 tbsp). Feel free to reserve the rest for another day.
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For the cream sauce, flash soak cashews by soaking for an hour in boiling water. Alternatively, you can soak them overnight.
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To make the cream sauce, combine soaked cashews, nutritional yeast, lemon juice, olive oil, garlic cloves, pepper, and salt to taste in a blender. Add a bit of warm water to help the sauce thin slightly and move in the blender. Blend.
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Boil water for pasta and cook as directed.
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Drain pasta.
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Add all of the cream sauce on top of the pasta and combine until it is fully incorporated.
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Now, spoon 5 tbsp (or more if you like!) of the vegan parmesan onto the pasta and mix to coat.
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Garnish with black pepper and flaky sea salt.
Made this recipe…. loved it. AMAZING, DELISH, and practically SINFUL!!! I’ve just used the sauce and haven’t even sprinkled with the “parm”– I’ll be saving that for salads, eggs and veggie toppers.
Do you have the nutritional breakdowns for serving size? I’m trying to incorporate into my weight program, GPlans.
Thanks, I enjoy your yummy posts!
so happy to hear!!! xo