Thursday, May 7: Creamy (Vegan) Sun-Dried Tomato Pasta Sauce

Y’all know I love (and eat a lot of) cheese — so while this recipe was technically labeled a “vegan mac and cheese,” what really drew me to it were the ingredients: coconut. milk, sun-dried tomatoes, miso, and nutritional yeast, which you blend together into a creamy, savory sauce. Delicious! (See original recipe by the Post Punk Kitchen here, or my adapted version below.)

Get one pound of pasta boiling in some well-salted water, and cook to al dente (I used rigatoni).

While the pasta is boiling, make the sauce — it’ll just take a few minutes! To a blender, add one 13.5 ounce can full-fat coconut milk, 1 cup oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes (drained, but reserve the delicious oil), ~1/4 cup of the reserved sun-dried tomato oil, 1/2 cup nutritional yeast, 2 TB miso paste (I used white miso, but the original recipe used red), 1 tsp onion powder, and a large pinch of salt. Blend until completely smooth and creamy. Taste — does it need more sun-dried tomatoes? More salt? Some black pepper? Adjust and blend again.

When pasta is done, drain it, reserving some of the cooking water. Pour the sauce into the pot with the pasta and toss so that the sauce coats each noodle, adding a splash or two of pasta cooking water to thin if needed.