Description
Cashew cream mushroom and kale pasta is the ultra comforting dairy free pasta recipe that you’ve been waiting for! Made with your favorite gluten free pasta, flavorful mushrooms, hearty greens, ground turkey, and cashew cream for a super luxe creamy dairy free pasta sauce. Leave out the turkey or substitute it with chopped walnuts or your favorite plant based “meat” for a vegan option!
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup raw cashews
- enough just boiled water to soak cashews
- 12 ounces gluten free pasta
- 1 small bunch of kale or another hearty green, cut into bites sized pieces and washed
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- about 12 ounces mushrooms, thinly sliced
- 1/2 onion, thinly sliced
- 1 pound of ground turkey (optional)
- 1 1/2 teaspoons sea salt
- big pinch of chili flakes (optional)
- 2 teaspoons all purpose or poultry seasoning
- 4–6 cloves of garlic, chopped
- 3 tablespoons nutritional yeast
- 1 1/2 cups broth
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Soak cashews in just boiled water for about an hour before starting to cook.
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Start a large pot of water with about 2 tablespoons sea salt to boil for the pasta. When water is boiling add pasta and cook according to package instructions. Have kale ready – 1 minute before you drain the pasta you will add the kale to the boiling water. Meanwhile, start making the pasta sauce.
- Heat olive oil over medium high heat and add sliced mushrooms and onions. Saute, stirring occasionally, until tender and caramelized – about 5-8 minutes.
- Make a space in the center of the pan and add ground turkey (if using) and season with about 1 1/2 teaspoon sea salt, plenty of black pepper, chili flakes, and 2 teaspoons all purpose seasoning. If not using turkey, add the salt, pepper, chili flakes, and all purpose seasoning to the mushrooms and onions.
- Cook turkey, breaking up with spatula or spoon until nicely browned and cooked through. Add chopped garlic and continue to cook for another minute or so.
- Reduce heat to low and move on to making the cashew cream.
- Drain soaked cashews and add to the blender with broth and nutritional yeast. Blend on high until smooth and creamy – with no pieces of cashew remaining. The sauce may seem a bit thin, but it will thicken once added to the mushroom mixture.
- Pour blended cashew mixture into pan with mushrooms and turkey and stir to combine and warm.
- About 1 minute before pasta is done cooking add the thinly sliced kale to the boiling water to cook briefly. Drain pasta and kale and add to the skillet with the sauce. Stir to combine and season to taste with salt and pepper.
Notes
To make this recipe vegan, leave out the meat altogether, or substitute with your favorite plant based meat or about 1 cup of chopped walnuts.
For a paleo option, find a grain free pasta or gnocchi to serve it with, or substitute sweet potato or zucchini noodles.
If you don’t have ground turkey, feel free to substitute with ground chicken, beef, pork, or even sliced chicken sausage.
Any hearty greens can be substituted for the kale – chard or collard greens would both be delicious substitutes. You could also use spinach or arugula, but you’ll want to add it fresh at the end of cooking since they are both tender quick-cooking greens
This gluten free pasta will keep in the refrigerator for about 4-5 days.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Category: pasta
- Method: stove top
- Cuisine: american