Creamy Tomato Pasta (vegan)
This Creamy Tomato Pasta is the ultimate easy vegan dinner! Made with just a handful of pantry staples in one pot, it’s quick, cozy, and endlessly adaptable—swap in your favorite fresh or frozen veggies and dinner is done!
Servings: 4 servings
Ingredients
- 8 ounces of penne pasta
- 1 tablespoon of oil
- 1 bell pepper thinly sliced*
- 2 large cloves of garlic minced
- ¼ cup of packed sun dried tomatoes chopped
- 1 cup of chopped zucchini about 1 large*
For the sauce:
- ½ cup of cashews
- 15 ounce can of diced tomatoes
- 1 teaspoon of dried basil can also use fresh chopped
- 1 teaspoon of paprika
- 1 teaspoon of cumin
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 2 cups of water
Instructions
- You can either soak the cashews overnight OR quickly soften them by boiling the cashews in water for 20 minutes. To do this, simply place the cashews in a pot and cover them with water. Bring to a boil and boil lightly for 20 minutes. Drain the water and let cool.
- In a large skillet, heat the oil and once hot, add in the bell pepper and zucchini. Cook for 8 minutes, stirring frequently, until the veggies begin to soften. Add in the garlic and cook for 2 additional minutes. Place the veggies on a plate and set aside.
- Make the sauce by combining soaked and drained cashews, diced tomatoes, herbs, paprika, cumin, salt, and pepper in a blender. Blend until completely smooth which can take a few minutes.
- Without bothering to whip the skillet clean, add in the water and tomato/ cashew sauce and bring to a simmer. Add in the pasta and cook until the pasta is al dente, about 8-10 minutes.
- Once the sauce has thickened, add the veggies back into the skillet as well as the sun dried tomatoes. Season with additional salt and pepper as needed and cook another couple of minutes. Serve and enjoy!
Notes
*You can make the whole meal a little bit quicker if you cook the veggies in a separate skillet at the same time that you're cooking the pasta in the sauce. Then you can combine into the same skillet when the recipe indicates.
*If desired, you can also leave out the fresh veggies and instead stir in about 2 cups of frozen veggies. This makes this recipe a little cheaper (depending on the time of year) AND easier to throw together :)
Nutrition
Serving: 1serving | Calories: 395kcal | Carbohydrates: 60g | Protein: 13g | Fat: 13g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 3g | Monounsaturated Fat: 7g | Trans Fat: 0.01g | Sodium: 284mg | Potassium: 835mg | Fiber: 6g | Sugar: 10g | Vitamin A: 1433IU | Vitamin C: 57mg | Calcium: 85mg | Iron: 4mg
