So I am having a little life dilemma over here:

I hate wasting food. There is really nothing worse to me than having to throw perfectly good food away just because it went bad

BUT…

I am also not the biggest fan of leftovers. See the dilemma here? I know. It’s a problem.

However, I have been working on a solution – trying to repurpose my leftovers into something BETTER! This was one such case – I made a cauliflower mash the other night (so creamy, so good) but there was a TON leftover. So yesterday I decided to repurpose it into a creamy delicious PASTA SAUCE.

Initially I made the sauce with the intention of making a vegan mac and cheese. Which I did. And then I put cheese on top of mine (woops, I know) but I had this amazing gruyere in the fridge that was just calling my name.

Anyways, the cheese can be optional here so if you decide to make it dairy-free then all the power to ya!

I personally love this brand of quinoa pasta (this is not an ad) and I find their package size PERFECT for the amount of sauce in this recipe!

INGREDIENTS

• 1 package quinoa pasta (or 3 cups pasta of your choice)
• 1 small head of cauliflower, chopped into florets
• 1 clove garlic
• 3 tbsp water
• 1 tbsp butter or olive oil
• 1/2 cup vegetable or chicken broth
• 1/2 cup nutritional yeast
• 1 tsp salt
• OPTIONAL: 1/2 cup organic shredded cheese of choice (I used some gruyere)

METHOD

• FOR THE PASTA:
• Bring a large pot of water to a rolling boil
• Cook the pasta according to the package directions
• FOR THE SAUCE:
• Steam the cauliflower florets until fork-tender. Add the florets, the garlic clove and the water to a high speed blender and blitz until creamy.
• Transfer to a large saucepan over medium heat and stir in the butter or olive oil
• Add the stock and the nutritional yeast and stir to combine. The sauce should be thick and creamy.
• Season with salt to taste.
• Add the cheese if using and stir in until its melted
• FOR ASSEMBLY:
• Grease a baking dish with olive oil and set aside
• Add the cooked pasta to the sauce and stir to combine
• pour pasta into baking dish, top with nutritional yeast or more grated cheese (or both)
• Broil in oven for 1-2 minutes (or until the top is golden – watch carefully!)