Creamy Vegan Lemon Pasta with Asparagus

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup raw cashews
• sea salt
• 1 clove garlic - roughly chopped
• zest and juice from 1 large lemon
• 2 teaspoons nutritional yeast
• freshly ground black pepper
• pinch red pepper flakes (optional)
• 12 oz spaghetti or other pasta of choice
• about 13 oz asparagus - tough ends snapped, cut into 2-inch pieces
• basil or parsley - for garnishing (optional)

Instructions

1. 1

   Soak the cashews in hot water for at least 15 minutes. Set a large pot of well-salted water to boil.

2. 2

   In an upright blender, combine the drained cashews with ¾ cup water, garlic, lemon zest (reserve some for garnishing), lemon juice, nutritional yeast, pepper, red pepper flakes if using, and a generous pinch of salt. Blend until very smooth. Taste for salt and adjust if needed, the sauce should be fairly salty.

3. 3

   Cook the pasta in the prepared pot until al dente, according to the time on the package. Add the asparagus to the pot at the last 3 minutes of cooking the pasta, to blanch. Reserve 1½ cups of the starchy pasta water before draining the pasta. Drain the asparagus and pasta and return both to the pot. Pour the cashew sauce over the pasta, along with a generous splash of the reserved pasta water, mix well to combine. Add more pasta water as needed, until you have a nice saucy consistency. Serve right away, garnished with the reserved lemon zest and herbs, if using.