Creamy Tomato-Basil Sauce

Once again it’s approaching 5:00 and I have no clue what’s for supper.

I looked around my kitchen, hmmm.

Earlier today I covered some raw cashews with water. I did not have a special plan for the cashews, I just knew I needed to use them. I had seen a video earlier this week of an Alfredo sauce using cashews as a base. Cashews make a wonderful creamy base for soups and sauces, that I do know!

So now I have a plan. A creamy sauce using the cashews that were soaking.

Then I looked around my kitchen to see what else would spark my cooking imagination. Oooh, fresh vegetables from the garden!

I had: potatoes we dug earlier this week, zucchini and yellow squash from the garden and some onions and bell peppers I picked up from the grocery.

I cut up the vegetables (potatoes, onions, orange bell pepper, yellow squash and zucchini) and placed them on my big stone ware cookie sheet. I sprayed them with cooking spray and sprinkled with salt, cracked pepper and smoked paprika (excellent spice for all veggies). Baked that at 425 degrees until tender.

After I had my vegetables in the oven I began a quick search for a cashew-based sauce. This lead me to Vegan Yum Yum’s Super Quick Tomato Basil Cream Pasta. So super creamy and thick and fantastic. A very nice change over the regular marinara sauce that is quite chunky after I load it up with cooked veggies.

My tomatoes in the garden are still green, so I opened a jar I canned last year. If you don’t have fresh tomatoes you can use a can of chopped tomatoes. One 15 ounce can should be fine. Since I used canned tomatoes I did not add the 1/4 cup water.

I also added some nutritional yeast to give it a ‘cheesy taste/texture’.I served the sauce over spelt noodles. The left over sauce will be served over left over baked vegetables.

This is my version of her recipe:

Creamy Tomato-Basil Sauce

• 1 Large, ripe tomato (2 cups roughly chopped, 1 1/2 cups blended) or 1 15 ounce can chopped tomatoes
• 1/2 cup raw cashews
• 1 Tablespoon Tomato Paste
• 1/4 cup water (if using fresh tomatoes)
• 2 Tablespoons Nutritional Yeast
• 2-4 Cloves Garlic, minced
• water for sauteing
• 1-2 Teaspoons dried basil (or handful of fresh leaves)
• Salt and pepper
• Pasta or vegetables

Directions

1. Combine tomatoes, cahews, tomato paste, nutritional yeast and 1/4 cup water in blender.
2. Blend until very smooth.
3. Meanwhile saute minced garlic in some water for a minute or two.
4. Add blended tomato sauce to the garlic. Season with basil and salt and pepper to taste.
5. Simmer for 5 minutes to blend seasonings.
6. Serve over pasta or fresh veggies.