creamy cajun pasta
creamy pasta is a love language. but did you know you could make it without cream? probably. But did you know you could do it without a shop-bought, ultra-processed vegan alternative? NO? Well follow this recipe.
This creamy sauce is very versatile and it’s a go to for me to make and batch up when I need a creamy sauce for pasta on the go. So enjoy this dish, in just 20 minutes, and with the perfect little kick of cajun flowing through it.
SERVES 2 PEOPLE
6 min prep + 14 min cooking = 20 minutes
INGREDIENTS:
300g silken tofu
5 tbsp nutritional yeast
1 tsp red or white miso paste (doesn’t matter)
200g rigatoni
2 tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp cayenne pepper
2 tsp mixed herbs
1 tsp garlic granules
1 tsp onion granules
or ignore everything in bold and put 3 tsp cajun seasoning
1 tbsp tomato paste
1 small courgette
1 garlic clove
2 handfuls of baby spinach
50ml pasta water
Chilli oil (up to you babes)
METHOD:
Boil your pasta in salted boiling water inside a large saucepan. Pick your shape based on your preference but I like rigatoni.
Chuck the silken tofu, nutritional yeast and miso paste into a food processor and blitz. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Happy? Good. It should look smooth and creamy btw.
Chop up the courgette into discs and dice up the garlic. Fry the courgette only in some light olive oil inside a large frying pan on a medium heat until golden. Season, then go and add in the garlic and the cajun spices. Let them activate, and once you smell the lush cajun fragrance, add in the spinach and tomato paste. Reduce it, seduce it (that’s a joke) and leave to one side.
When your pasta is cooked, save the water (50ml pls) and drain it. Then mix into the frying pan with the courgettes and spinach, add the blitzed cream, and the pasta water. Mix well and lower the heat until you get properly creamy and gorgeous pasta.
Serve with a bit of chilli oil if you fancy it and a squeeze of lemon babes. Finito.