Recently, my friend Ginny from the Blog ‘Vegan in the Freezer‘, kindly sent me a copy of her new cookbook ‘The Make Ahead Vegan‘. Her cookbook is filled with 125 delicious, easy to make, freezer friendly recipes which all look so amazing! I couldn’t wait to make some of her recipes and feature one of them on my blog.
It was actually really difficult for me to decide which dish of hers to write about, as there were so many recipes I knew I’d like. However, it was the mouthwatering photograph of her American Tetrazzini recipe on the front cover of her book that tempted me into making it for my blog post.
I adore creamy pasta sauces and anything with a garlic flavour, so I knew that I was going to love this pasta dish of hers. The recipe only needed a few ingredients and a short time to prepare, so I couldn’t wait to make it. As soon as I got my ingredients ready, I simply blended the sauce ingredients together as I waited for the pasta to cook. Then, all I had to do was drain the pasta and stir it into a dish with the sauce to bake. It was so easy!
The sauce tasted absolutely incredible and had such a bold, delicious flavour. It had a rich, creamy texture just like any traditional cream sauce, only this one was made with cashews. Honestly, no one would know there was no dairy in this recipe.
I loved this dish so much that I ate it repeatedly throughout the week, so I really think you’ll enjoy it too. I also served it without baking the dish after the pasta had cooked. I just stirred the sauce into the pasta and dived straight into it as it was! It’s such a versatile recipe!
Ginny is also hosting a giveaway for a chance for you to win a copy! You can enter here on Ginny’s blog post:
Good luck!
American Tetrazzini
serves 6
Ingredients
for the sauce:
1 tbsp coconut oil 1 cup (150 g) cashews 1¼ cups (310 ml) nondairy milk 1 tbsp nutritional yeast 1 tsp garlic powder 1 tsp salt ¼ tsp freshly ground black pepper
for the pasta: 10 oz spaghetti pasta – I used Rizopia’s brown rice spaghetti 2 tbsp salt
Method
To make the tetrazzini sauce:
Cover the cashews with water and let soak for 4 hours to overnight.
Drain the cashews and put into a food processor. To the food processor, add the milk, nutritional yeast, garlic powder, salt, and pepper. Process until smooth. Taste for seasoning and add more salt or pepper, if you like. Set aside. Bring a large pot of water to a boil for the spaghetti. Add the salt. Break the uncooked spaghetti into thirds. To do this, take about a third of the package of spaghetti and hold it over a large bowl. Grasp with both hands about a third up the bunch and snap, then snap the remaining two thirds of the bunch in half. Do this with all the spaghetti. Add to the salted boiling water. Cook al dente, according to the package directions, probably 7 to 8 minutes.
Drain and place back in the empty pot. Pour the tetrazzini sauce into the pot. Stir well.
Pour this mixture into the prepared casserole dish. At this point you may refrigerate or freeze the casserole; otherwise, preheat the oven to 350°F. Cover the casserole with foil and bake for 25 minutes.
Storing in the refrigerator:
The casserole will keep in the refrigerator before and after baking for up to 3 days each.
Freezing: Freeze before the casserole is baked. Make sure it is in a freezer-safe casserole with a freezer safe snap lid. You may also use two smaller freezer to-oven-safe casseroles and then slide them into freezer bags. Will keep for up to 4 months.
To prepare after freezing, defrost in the refrigerator overnight. Baking after storage: Bake in a 350°F oven, covered with foil, for 20 minutes. Uncover and bake for another 10 minutes.
*Reprinted with permission from “The Make Ahead Vegan Cookbook” by Ginny Kay McMeans*
