Spinach Penne with Red Bell peppers Spinach Penne is a creamy, filling and vegan pasta dish.
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Meatless monday or any weeknight quick fix! Powder some cashews, mix in with water, salt, roasted garlic, chipotle habanero sauce. Get your pasta ready. Stir fry some veggies, toss in the pasta and sauce, cook for 2-3 minutes until sauce thickens. done! You can call this alfredo-ish sauce if you add some nutritional yeast for the cheesy flavor. Easily made gf too. The cashew cream makes this very filling.
In case you missed the homemade, not store bought, Doritos Spice in this Quick Pasta dish.. you should try it for another fun weeknight meal!
Dont like pasta, Add the veggies and cream to some cooked whole grain like Quinoa, barley, wheat berry!
Its one of those days when I dont want to take 100 pictures and edit them! I’d much rather spend time in the kitchen and keep cooking/baking and of course eating. Instead of thinking up compositions, lighting, photographing the result and then editing the whole bunch.
Spinach Penne with Red Bell peppers, Cherry tomatoes in Chipotle Habanero garlicky Cashew cream sauce. vegan
A creamy, filling and vegan pasta dish
Servings: 1 serving
Calories: 711kcal
Ingredients
For the sauce:
- 1/4 cup (32.25 g) raw cashews powdered
- 1/2 cup (125 ml) water
- 5-6 (5 ) garlic cloves
- 1/3 teaspoon (0.33 teaspoon) salt
- 2 teaspoons Chipotle Habanero Hot sauce or to taste I used Melinda's Chipotle Hot sauce, start with 1 tsp and add more 🙂
- Or 1 chipotle pepper and 1/2+ teaspoon plain habanero sauce or any hot sauce.
Pasta:
- 1 teaspoon organic canola oil
- 1 cup (182 g) veggies we uses some sliced up Red and Green bell peppers and cherry tomatoes
- 1.5 cups (168.75 g) whole grain Spinach Penne
Toppings:
- 1/3 cup (49.67 g) Cherry tomatoes
- 1/2 teaspoon (0.5 teaspoon) dried basil
- nutritional yeast optional
Instructions
- In a large pan, add the oil and heat on medium. Add garlic cloves, stir and cook till they are golden 2-3 minutes, or use roasted garlic cloves and continue to the blend step.
- In a blender, add powdered cashew, roasted or golden garlic, water, salt, chipotle hot sauce(or chipotle peppers and hot sauce) and blend until smooth.(It will be a thin cream)
- Prepare pasta according to instructions. Reserve some of the water.
- In the pan with the oil, add sliced/chopped veggies. We used sliced red and green bell peppers and a few cherry tomatoes. Cook on medium till the veggies are half done.( 3-4 minutes).
- For Oil-free version, saute the veggies in water or vegetable broth.
- Add the pasta and cashew cream, mix well and cook on low until the cream starts to bubble and thicken.
- The cream will start thickening very quickly after this point.
- Taste and adjust salt and spices. Add a few Tablespoons of the pasta water to adjust sauce if needed.
- Take off heat.
- Serve hot topped with halved cherry tomatoes, some dried basil and nutritional yeast sprinkle.
Notes
Nutritional values are based on one serving
Nutrition
Nutrition Facts
Spinach Penne with Red Bell peppers, Cherry tomatoes in Chipotle Habanero garlicky Cashew cream sauce. vegan
Amount Per Serving
Calories 711 Calories from Fat 180
% Daily Value*
Fat 20g31%
Saturated Fat 3g19%
Sodium 508mg22%
Potassium 982mg28%
Carbohydrates 116g39%
Fiber 9g38%
Sugar 3g3%
Protein 28g56%
Vitamin A 9485IU190%
Vitamin C 38mg46%
Calcium 136mg14%
Iron 8.6mg48%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
This pasta is heading to Slighlty Indulgent Tuesdays, Hearth and soul blog hop, Allergry Free Wednesday, Ricki’s Wellness Weekend.
On this delicious note, a must read “Clean your plate and save the world“
An estimated 30 percent to 50 percent of the food produced in the world goes uneaten.
The average American throws away 33 pounds of food each month. about a 5000$ per year.
33 million tons of food waste hit landfills and incinerators in 2010.
Eat small portions. Finish your food! Find ways to use up leftovers.
Growing up in a middle class household in India, we always knew the value of food, money, what we have and how to reuse, recycle, use, finish, what we use or eat. Throwing away is frowned upon. It is one of the lessons which takes a back seat as soon as you land into the consumeristic, everything more than needed kind of outlook. Eventually though, the good old lessons learnt while growing up, work best whether it comes to food or anything else in life.
Shannon says
March 19, 2012 at 8:21 pmI would probably leave out the peppers since I am not a fan of spicy foods, but a garlic cashew sauce sounds so wonderful!
Richa says
March 19, 2012 at 9:03 pmThanks Shannon.. yes garlicky cashew cream is a fave here too!
Isobelle says
March 19, 2012 at 8:38 pmWhatttt? You are an amazing food photographer, Richa! I am always amazed at how crisp and clean your photos look. It makes the food seem that more yummy (not that it doesn’t already look yummy enough, because it does).
This alfredo sauce sounds delicious, too! I guess I don’t really eat pasta (gf pasta for me) but I see it around in the gf section at the grocery stores. I think I’m just scared of the carbs 😀
Richa says
March 19, 2012 at 9:04 pmThanks Isobelle, that is all the hard work.. taking 100s of pictures, sorting thru them, editing them.. etc etc. It will be so much simpler if i can take 10 pictures and they dont need editing to look this good:)
You can put the veggies and cream over some cooked quinoa;)
Krithi's Kitchen says
March 19, 2012 at 10:11 pmLove these kind of quick fix pastas for dinner.. Healthy and filling!
Serve It – Stir Fried
SavithaRaj's Spice Land says
March 19, 2012 at 11:02 pmYummy ……….and perfect….. !!!!!!
Cadry says
March 19, 2012 at 11:24 pmFirst, I agree with Isobelle. Your food photography is lovely! Second, this dish looks so amazing! Cashews can do anything, and I don’t use them for savory sauces nearly enough. This must change. Finally, you’re so right about being diligent about not wasting food. I’ve become a lot more conscious of that over the years. I try to repurpose my leftovers in new and interesting ways, so that it feels like a new meal, even when I’m using up scraps.
Richa says
March 20, 2012 at 6:22 pmThank you Cadry!:) I love adding cashew cream to a lot of savory dishes. they make for a great sub for regular cream in indian curries too.
Thats a great idea. Thats what mom used to do as well. use up veggies to make burgers or fillings for flatbread and such to refresh the leftovers!
Neha says
March 19, 2012 at 11:38 pmLovely recipe…Going to try it very soon…
Anu says
March 20, 2012 at 12:20 amwow!! looks so creamy.
anusha praveen says
March 20, 2012 at 3:16 amThe pasta looks fantastic i love the idea of cashews in the sauce. And the cherry tomatoes are wonderful on the pasta too!!
Aarthi says
March 20, 2012 at 4:47 amawesome pasta
Raji says
March 20, 2012 at 5:25 amYou are being modest Richa..your pictures are gorgeous..too beautiful, and you should start writing photography tips.
And this pasta looks too good, love the cherry tomatoes, and cashew cream is a brilliant idea.
Richa says
March 20, 2012 at 6:24 pmThank you Raji. I am still quite far away from photography tips.. i hardly know enough about photography jargon and camera adjustments.:)
dassana | veg recipes of india says
March 20, 2012 at 6:05 amthe pasta is looking good richa.
your photos are good richa. i know the amount of time we spent of sifting through 100 photos. so i have found a way of taking photos with a dslr and then just selecting what you want. it saves my time too. you can bother me. even though i have a busy life, i can share with you some tricks of the trade.
i never know so much food is wasted in america… and there are people i see that do not even have a morsel of bread to eat… what a world of sadness and contrast 🙁
Richa says
March 20, 2012 at 6:25 pmThanks Dassana. I will connect with u on fb!:)
Theres just too much wastage because of portion sizes.
Deeps @ Naughty Curry says
March 20, 2012 at 11:24 amlooks super creamy… would love to dig into it! the pics are lovely as usual
Caitlin says
March 20, 2012 at 11:43 amwhat a delicious pasta dish! i love the contrast of green pasta with red tomatoes.
Richa says
March 20, 2012 at 6:26 pmThank you Caitlin. Yep, and it is quite spicy!
Matt @ RecipeLion says
March 20, 2012 at 1:20 pmThis recipe look great! I would love it if you linked up this post to my springtime recipes blog hop for a chance to win a “Top Chef” cookbook: http://ow.ly/9Lmwj
Jenn Kendall says
March 20, 2012 at 4:58 pmawesome pasta!! i love the addition of the hot sauce!
[email protected] says
March 20, 2012 at 5:59 pmI always loved creamy sauces over pasta…. and miss that so much.
I would love to try this cashew creme. thx.
Richa says
March 20, 2012 at 6:27 pmThanks Ella! Let me know when you try it!
Sunday Morning Banana Pancakes says
March 20, 2012 at 8:56 pmRicha! You are making me so hungry today, I guess that is what I get for slacking and reading all your posts in one sitting – lessoned learned.
I am SO so hungry I am not even kidding – my tummy is yelling feed me this right this very moment!
Richa says
March 21, 2012 at 9:25 pmThank you Heather! You can whip it up in 20 mins! so go ahead.. feed your tummy!
Tiffany says
March 20, 2012 at 10:43 pmLooks delicious! Using powdered cashews sounds like an awesome time-saving alternative to soaked cashews. Thanks for sharing the idea and fabulous pasta recipe.
Richa says
March 21, 2012 at 9:24 pmyeah.. i made the thandai(almond and cashew drink) with powdered cashews and realized how easy they mix in with water! and the cream cooks up much much faster too!
notyet100 says
March 20, 2012 at 11:37 pmPlatter looks delicious,never tried cashew in pasta,..:)
Richa says
March 21, 2012 at 9:23 pmThank you! you should give it a try.. it will beat the usual cheesy buttery sauce by a mile!
Terra says
March 21, 2012 at 3:18 amWhat is cool about this recipe, it looks like it is a creamy recipe that is unhealthy…..then you read that fantastic recipe!!! It sounds wonderful:-) Gorgeous, Hugs, Terra
Richa says
March 21, 2012 at 9:22 pmExactly! it looks like its too creamy and heavy.. how am i going to eat it.. but hey its just cashews and even though they are filling, they are not going to give u heartburn!:) Hugs back!
Ashlae says
March 21, 2012 at 2:03 pmA few weeks ago – for the first time in my life – I had cherry tomatoes with my pasta. And it was pure heaven. I am going to HAVE to try this (with GF pasta, of course).
Richa says
March 21, 2012 at 9:20 pmreally!:) i love cherry tomatoes! they look so cute and add that special sour touch to the pastas and pizzas without making things too tomatoey!.
Tessa Domestic Diva says
March 21, 2012 at 5:24 pmyou had me at creamy and chipotle….pinned!
Richa says
March 21, 2012 at 9:19 pmThank you Tessa!
Maggie Muggins says
March 21, 2012 at 8:40 pmI love how cashew cream kicks everything up a notch with the decadence.
I feel you on the food photography, I find that editing photos to be the most tedious part, but then that’s probable because I have no idea what I’m doing. Your photos are beautiful, so when you’re going through the monotony of setting up the photos, taking the photos and editing the photos, just remember that we really appreciate them!
Richa says
March 21, 2012 at 9:02 pmThank you for this comment Maggie! xoxo:)
The editing is a very tedious job.. also because the pictures I take are not perfect in terms of lighting or composition to begin with.. Its a long learning process.
The Cooking Actress says
March 22, 2012 at 12:06 pmI have those days where I’m tired of the pictures too lol. This is really beautiful, though, and looks delicious!
I also wanted to let you know I’ve nominated you for The Liebster Award :)! You can check here for more details: http://cookingactress.blogspot.com/2012/03/awards.html
Richa says
March 23, 2012 at 2:28 amThank you so much for the award! xoxo,
These pictures are from my night time shots which i still havent perfected in terms of lighting.. Let me know if you have any tips on nigh time shots!:) Have a great day!
sara @ real fun food says
March 23, 2012 at 5:34 amI absolutely love this. Saw it on Pinterest and I can’t wait to make it!!
Richa says
March 25, 2012 at 8:55 pmThanks Sara. Let me know when you do!:)
Shumaila says
March 23, 2012 at 8:39 pmThe picture reminds me of this dish that I had eaten long back. Now I don’t remember what the dish was, nor do I remember if it was a pasta dish, but I do remember it was absolutely delicious! And this falls in the same category, and even though I haven’t tasted it, I am pretty sure it tastes great.
And I totally understand when you say that photographing for your blog can be so much work at times. Composing a shot, uploading, then editing. But then its nice to know when your efforts get appreciated, and these pictures are sure worth all the appreciation!
Richa says
March 25, 2012 at 8:56 pmThank you Shumaila. The cashew cream is very filling and healthy at the same time!
Janelle (Gluten Freely Frugal) says
March 26, 2012 at 6:17 pmWow, what a great combination! Thanks for sharing on Allergy-Free Wednesday. Hope you’ll join us again this week with another great recipe!
Alea Milham says
March 27, 2012 at 5:59 amWhat a delicious looking meal! I love the combination of flavors and the dairy-free sauce! Thanks for sharing this with the Hearth and Soul Hop.
Penniless Parenting says
March 27, 2012 at 6:49 amAwww, if only cashews werent so expensive here- this looks so good!
Richa says
March 30, 2012 at 9:46 pmThanks! You can use other nuts or coconut cream!
Annie says
March 27, 2012 at 7:08 pmThat looks soooo good!
An Unrefined Vegan
Junia says
March 28, 2012 at 3:06 pmricha, i love the garlicky cashew cream sauce! that sounds delicious 😀
Richa says
March 30, 2012 at 9:46 pmThank you Junia! it is 🙂
Snehal says
April 10, 2012 at 3:21 pmRicha, I made the cashew-garlic cream sauce yesterday with asparagus and carrots on penne, it was delicious. Your recipes are ingenious, I’ve stopped referring to any other food websites now 🙂 Thanks for sharing your culinary adventures!
Richa says
April 10, 2012 at 5:06 pmThank you Snehal! I am so happy that you liked it!:)) and thank you for this comment.. made my day!
Jessica says
September 15, 2014 at 4:37 pmFor the 1/4 cup of raw cashews, is it 1/4 cup after they are powdered or 1/4 cup whole cashews and then powder them?
Thank you!
Richa says
September 15, 2014 at 5:16 pmin this recipe it doesnt matter. a loaded 1/4 cup cashews will give you a 1/4 cup ground cashew. a few teaspoons here and there don’t change the sauce.