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!)