Show Your Favorite Pasta Some Extra Love With This Creamy, Dairy-Free Pesto
As much as we love pasta, we absolutely don’t love how bloated it makes us feel afterward. Lighten your favorite carbs by skipping the red sauce and adding some dairy-free pesto instead. It’s light, flavorful, and fresh, and it goes well with so many different dishes. You can also add a little extra sprak to it with juicy tomatoes, roasted red peppers, or rosemary-infused chicken. This recipe is a blank canvas waiting for your culinary creativity to be unleashed.
Ingredients
Pesto:
- 1 bunch of basil
- 1/4 cup almonds
- 3 garlic cloves
- 2/3 cup olive oil
- 1 Tbsp. white miso paste
Pasta and Sauce:
- 1 Tbsp. olive oil
- 1 cup mushrooms (king, oyster, portobello, button, field, or a combination)
- 1/3 cup almond milk
- 8 oz. package quinoa pasta
- Salt and pepper
Instructions
1. To make the pesto, combine all ingredients in a blender and process until it forms a paste.
2. Bring a pot of water to a boil, add a few pinches of salt, and cook pasta for 10 to 12 minutes (or according to package directions) until it has the slightest bit of firmness. While draining, reserve one cup of pasta water.
3. Drizzle 1 Tbsp. of olive oil into a pan and sauté mushrooms on medium heat for five minutes or until golden. Season with salt and pepper.
4. Pour almond milk into a small pot and turn heat to medium; let almond milk simmer until it has reduced by half. Turn to low heat for 3 to 4 minutes. Stir in pesto paste. (Tip: Reducing the almond milk before mixing it with the pesto makes the sauce even creamier and hard to resist!)
5. In a bowl, combine your pasta and 3/4 of your creamy pesto sauce. Mix together before dishing out into individual bowls. Top with mushrooms and remaining sauce. Add a drizzle of olive oil.
This recipe was originally published by California Almonds.
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