White bean and Artichoke heart pasta with homemade Cashew Cheese( vegan, GF, DF)

Holy moly this one is a keeper!!! ;-)  So we were running a little low on stuff in the cupboards the other night.  I had a can of white beans and of course a can of artichoke hearts.  I was CRAVING pasta.  I just bought a can of this amazing tomato basil sauce from new season.  It is all natural with only a few ingredients which always makes me happy.  No crap in this sauce ;-)  Any ways, I couldn't wrap my brain around that all these flavors would taste good together lol....  Sooo i googled, white bean and artichoke pasta.  Tons of links pop up, that was enough for me.  Went back to the kitchen and this is what I came up with.  You have to try it, it really is tasty. :-)



Ingredients:

:  One box of Gluten free elbow pasta
:  1/2 of a lemon
:  Palm of parsley
:  Palm of oregano
:  Can of artichoke hearts in water ( not the seasoned kind)
:  one can of white beans
:  pinch of salt
:  one big jar of tomato basil sauce





Cook pasta per box instructions.

While pasta is cooking in a large pan combine sauce, parsley, oregano, juice from 1/2 a lemon, chopped artichoke hearts, rinsed white beans, and salt. Mix all together and cook on med/low heat for about 15 minutes.




Once pasta in cooked add noodles to sauce and mix together.  Turn heat to simmer and cover pan. Let it simmer for about 10 minutes stirring every few minutes or so.  This helps sauce bind to the noodles better.



Now for the Cashew Cheese.  I have seen this done a few times and really wanted to try it myself. So here is my recipe for cashew cheese.  I only had 1 cup of raw cashews left, I would have made a lot more if we had more nuts ;-)  The hubby LOVED it, and it is soooo easy.  Gotta love a Raw vegan cheese.

:  1 Cup raw cashews
:  1/2 cup Hot water
:  garlic
:  salt
:  evoo

In a food processor or good blender, grind up cashews till it looks like powder.  Add Hot water and blend together. I didnt measure the next ones ( sorry Kathy, lol) add a pinch of salt, maybe 1 T Evoo, and garlic to taste.  Blend together until a smooth texture is created.

This taste a lot like alfredo sauce.  Crazy right?!?!



Next time, I am going to try to make more of this and do a Vegan Mac & Cheese.
Oh how we miss Mac & Cheese on a cold day ;-)



ENJOY!!!