GLUTEN FREEE – SERVES 4
Call it béchamel, call it vegan cheese cauli pasta, the fact is that it is super creamy and rich and delicious on the palate. This sauce is perfect also to make lasagne or baked pasta or even baked béchamel fennels.
Cauliflower has a plain flavor and when steamed and blended has an insanely silky texture that permits me to make something I dare to call béchamel. Just don tell France or the rest of the EU it’s vegan and it has cauliflower.
Ingredients:
Half one head of a small cauliflower
1\4 cup roasted cashews
2 tbsp nutritional yeast
1\4 tsp black pepper
2tbsp hulled hemp seeds
3-4 fresh thyme sprigs
2 tbsp olive oil
1 cup water pasta water or normal water if making it to use it somewhere else
Salt
380 g pasta of choice ( choose a gluten-free pasta if you prefer. Buckwheat pasta I think it tastes amazing with this sauce)
To serve
Lemon zest
Hemp seeds
Chopped parsley
Method:
Wash and cut the cauliflower in big florets. Chop the leaves up too. Bring a pot of water to a boil, add salt. To make the process quick I choose to cook pasta and cauliflower together. If it scares you with the timing you can do it separately. Cook the cauliflower for no more than 3-4 minutes then take it out and add it to the blender with the rest of the ingredients.
Blend on high speed until smooth. If necessary add a bit more water.
When ready drain the pasta and combine with the sauce. Sprinkle with abundant parsley, fresh ground black pepper, a bit of lemon zest, and olive oil.
If used to make lasagne or anything baked in the oven you will need to add a bit more water to make the sauce runnier since it will dry out in the oven.