Serendipity Jane
Original Recipe: Jane Fox
Inspiration: French Women Don’t Get Fat
If you love lemon, you will love Creamy Lemon Pasta. It is fresh tasting, luscious, cheesy and intensely lemony. It’s a perfect special occasion dish and no one will believe it’s gluten free, let alone vegan!
This is my first post for my blog Serendipity Jane! I chose this recipe because it embodies the spirit of serendipity, which means fortunate happenstance. Back before I ate vegan, and way before I knew I had a problem with gluten, I fell in love with a dish from “French Women Don’t Get Fat” called Tagliatelle with Lemon. It contained Lemon, crème fraiche, and fresh grated Parmesan.
My mouth was watering and I was so anxious get started that I scanned the recipe and quickly began to combine the ingredients. So quickly, that I was stirring the sauce in the pan when I noticed that although the recipe called for four lemons, I was only supposed to use the juice from one lemon, not all four!
“Ruined!” was my thought.
But after tasting my sauce, I couldn’t imagine it tasting any better. It was fabulously lemony! Creamy Lemon Pasta uses the zest and juice of four lemons. That is serendipity in action: Fortunate Happenstance.
With Creamy Lemon Pasta, I’ve re-created the sauce to meet my new dietary needs by replacing the crème fraiche and the Parmesan with plant based cashews and coconut milk. Nutritional yeast provides the cheesy goodness. Tagliatelle pasta was switched to gluten free Farfalle, ( I used Jovial organic brown rice, gluten free Farfalle) first because it’s gluten free, and second because I think that the bow tie pasta is just so darn cute! Capers add a perfect amount of brininess to compliment the lemon.
If you don’t have a high speed blender, you’ll need to plan ahead and soak your cashews overnight. If you forget, you can always do a quick soak in boiling water for ten minutes. Make sure you drain the cashews from the soaking water!
Add the drained cashews along with one cup of fresh water to your blender and set the blender to puree. Patience is needed in this step. You’ll need to check the blender every now and then to scrape down the sides.
Just a warning, it will take a while. I have a Ninja Blender, which I consider a medium speed blender. It takes several cycles to get to the creamy texture needed. Also check to make sure your blender motor is not heating up. If so just pause, give your blender a chance to cool down, then start it back up in a few minutes.
While your blender is humming away, put on a pot of water for your pasta. Follow the package directions and make sure you salt the water. This is your only chance to get flavor into the pasta itself.
With the pasta on the stove, and the blender doing its work, it’s time to start on the lemons. Since we are using the zest, it’s important to use organic lemons or lemons that you know have not been exposed to chemicals.
I’m fortunate to have a tree in the backyard, but even so, I gave them a good scrub to remove any dust. You’ll want to zest the lemons before you juice them. Zest all four, and juice all four!
Once that’s done, melt two tablespoons of vegan butter (I use Earth Balance- Organic) in a large pan. Add the zest and allow to bubble for a couple of minutes, releasing the flavors in the zest. Add the lemon juice and let the mixture simmer, which will thicken and reduce the mixture to about half.
Next add the can of coconut milk. Stir the mixture and allow it to reduce.
Once the sauce has thickened, add the cashew mixture from the blender, the nutritional yeast, the salt and the turmeric. The turmeric is optional but will give your sauce a beautiful lemony color. If your sauce is not a beautiful silky texture, return it to the blender for a bit.
This sauce will keep in the refrigerator for about four days and freezes well. Store the sauce and pasta separately.
Do not mix the leftover sauce with the pasta to store. The pasta will absorb the sauce and you will lose the creaminess of the sauce and the flavor will not be as intense.
Add about a quarter of a cup of sauce to a cup of pasta and sprinkle with capers. Enjoy! I hope you love it as much as I do.
Printable Recipe
Creamy Lemon Pasta
Equipment
- Blender
- Lemon Zester
- lemon juicer
Ingredients
- 1 cup raw cashews soaked overnight in the fridge in 3 cups of water
- 1 cup water
- 1 12 oz box gluten free Farfalle Pasta I used Jovial Brown Rice Gluten Free
- salt for pasta water
- 2 tbl Vegan Butter I used Earth Balance Organic
- 4 organic lemons zested first, then juiced
- 1 13.5 oz can canned coconut milk, full fat
- 4 tbl nutritional yeast
- 1/4 tsp turmeric
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/8 tsp teaspoon of pepper or to taste
- 6 tbl capers
Instructions
- Soak cashews in water overnight in the refrigerator or place in boiling water for 10 minutes, in order to soften. If you have a high speed blender, you can skip this step. Drain the cashews, discard the soaking water, and add them to the blender along with 1 cup of fresh water. Blend on puree until the mixture is very smooth. Periodically stop the blender to scrape down the sides and to check the texture. This could take a while, depending on the power of your blender.
- While the cashews are processing in the blender, prepare the pasta according to the package directions making sure to salt the water.
- Lightly scrub the four lemons to remove any soil, before zesting them. Zest all four lemons, then juice all four lemons.
- Add the vegan butter to a large pan and melt. Add the lemon zest, bring to a boil and let bubble for a couple of minutes. Add the lemon juice and let the mixture simmer until it is reduced and begins to thicken, about five minutes. Add the coconut milk and bring back to a low boil. Stir as the mixture simmers and reduces until it coats the back of a spoon. Add the cashew mixture, nutritional yeast, the turmeric, the salt, and the pepper. Stir to combine. If the texture is not totally smooth, return the entire mixture to the blender and process for a couple of minutes until it is silky.
- Spoon the sauce over the pasta and sprinkle on about a tablespoon of capers. Enjoy!
