Thursday, 27 December 2018

What We Ate Wednesday--Roasted Red Pepper Cheesy Sauce Pasta with Roasted Broccoli

Hello lovelies! Recently, I was craving a bowl of ooey-gooey vegan cheesy noodles (as you do.) I don't know where this craving came from. I probably saw something out of the corner of my eye that worked its way into my subconscious and would not let go.

I am *very* suggestible when it comes to food.

I had planned to do a stir fry with broccoli over rice noodles for a quick Boxing Day lunch, but could not stop poking my head in the fridge and looking at the jar of roasted red peppers and sighing loudly. Finally Spiderman said,
Go on. You don't have to twist my arm to eat cheesy noodles. 

I decided to adapt a cheese sauce based on my high protein WHITE BEAN ALFREDO SAUCE and use a roasted red pepper from a jar to give it a a more punchy cheese flavour. I also topped it with sun dried tomatoes and roasted broccoli to make it more of a meal.

This was *definitely* a good idea.

I used the long brown rice noodle nests I would have used in a stir fry. It gave them real slurpability (is this a word? well it should be.)

It was a really quick meal that tasted amazing.


Roasted Red Pepper Cheesy Sauce Pasta with Roasted Broccoli

Preheat your oven to 200C/400F.

Slice up as much broccoli as you want, lay in in a big roasting pan and drizzle with a bit of oil. Generously add salt, pepper and a dash of garlic powder if you wish. Roast for 20 minutes or until florets go brown and slightly crispy.

Meanwhile make the sauce and cook the pasta.

The sauce:
1 white onion, sliced into rainbows
3-4 cloves garlic, crushed
1 cup vegetable broth
1 tin white beans (I used butter beans as it was all i had on hand...next time will probably use cannellini) 
1/2 cup nutritional yeast flakes
Up to 1 tsp salt
1 roasted red pepper from a jar
! TB lemon juice (bottled is fine)
1 cup non dairy milk
1.5 TB starch (I used tapioca, but cornstarch/cornflour would work)
1/2 tsp each smoked paprika and turmeric for colour

Optional topping:
 oil packed sun dried tomatoes, snipped into bite size

1. Cook your noodles according to package directions.
2. Cook your onion and garlic in the 1 cup of broth. Boil until nearly all the liquid has been absorbed.
3. Add the garlicky onion to a blender with everything else and blend until smooth.
4.  Return to the pan and heat until bubbling and thickened. Add the cooked noodles and stir to coat.
5. Add your optional sun dried tomatoes and top with roasted broccoli.

YUM! Seriously, YUM.

Which gives me an idea on how to use this sauce to make a broccoli cheese soup.

Hmmm...I see another food obsession has begun......





1 comment:

  1. Looks delicious and I agree, that would make an amazing broccoli cheese soup!

    ReplyDelete