Penne with Creamy Vegan Pumpkin Sage Sauce
Ingredients
- 12 oz. box penne (or short pasta shape of choice)
- 14 oz. can unsweetened pumpkin purée
- ½ cup raw cashews (see note)
- ½ cup plain almond or oat milk
- 2 sprigs fresh sage stems discarded
- 1 Tbsp nutritional yeast
- 2 tsp unseasoned rice vinegar (seasoned will be fine as well)
- ½ tsp sea salt (plus more to taste)
- Freshly cracked black pepper
Instructions
- Cook penne to al dente per package instructions.
- Meanwhile, combine pumpkin purée, cashews, milk, 3-4 leaves sage, nutritional yeast, rice vinegar, salt, and a few grinds of black pepper in your blender. Blend on high until the consistency is very smooth.
- Transfer the sauce to a small pot and heat over medium heat on the stove until it’s lightly simmering. Upon serving, toss the pasta with the sauce and top with additional sage leaves for garnish.
Notes
Note: if you have a very high powered blender (like a Vitamix or Blendtec), you can add your cashews in raw. If your blender isn’t quite as strong, plan ahead and soak your cashews either overnight in a quart of water, or by bringing a quart of water to a boil, adding the cashews, turning off the heat, and allowing them to soak 1-2 hours.
Meal prep storage: Store the pasta and sauce separately until you’re ready to serve. To reheat, toss the pasta with sauce and heat in the microwave or on the stove. You may want to add 1-2 tablespoons milk of choice to the sauce/pasta prior to reheating to adjust the texture to your liking.