Creamy "Cheesy" Pasta - plant based, gluten free, dairy free, toddler friendly

I started making this pasta by following a recipe for vegan mac & cheese…

The recipe required too many appliances and too many steps and a few ingredients I didn’t have, so I began to wing it, I ended up with what my husband says is “the best pasta [I’ve] ever made.” (And, he doesn’t even like pasta). My pasta-loving toddler gobbled this up. Isn’t it great when everyone in the family loves the same meal!?

In the recipe, I provide 2 options, you can choose to add the step of blending the sauce so it’s more of a “cheesy” sauce OR, like I did, you can simply mix the pasta in with the vegetables without blending! (Don’t worry, you still get the cheesy flavor without the cheese thanks to the nutritional yeast!).

This recipe is super high in vitamin C (from carrots, sweet potatoes, tomatoes), fiber, and plant based protein. If you’re under the weather or feel like you’re getting sick, whip this pasta dish up to help support your immune system.

Creamy “Cheesy” Pasta (serves 4-6)

Ingredients:

• 1 medium onion, chopped

• 2 medium carrots, chopped

• 1 sweet potato, chopped (I used a Japanese Sweet Potato)

• 1 garlic clove, minced

• 1 1/2 cup vegetable broth

• 1/2 cup sunflower seeds

• 1 Package of Pasta (whole grain or bean pastas are my favorite)

• 2 tbsp nutritional yeast

• 2 tsp tomato paste

• 1/2 tsp turmeric

• Olive oil

• Salt & pepper

Directions

1. In a large pot, bring water to boil for the pasta and sweet potatoes.

2. While the water is boiling, prep the veggies (if you haven’t already)- chop the onions, carrots and sweet potatoes.

3. In a large pan, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion, carrots and garlic, stirring frequently.

4. Throw the pasta and sweet potatoes into the boiling water.

5. While the pasta is cooking and once the onions and carrots have softened, add vegetable broth, sunflower seeds, nutritional yeast, tomato paste, turmeric, salt and pepper to the pan. Stir and let the broth warm up.

6. Once the pasta is cooked, drain the water. (The sweet potatoes should be cooked or almost cooked at this point).

7. You can either transfer the sauce ingredients from the pan to a blender to make the cheesy sauce OR you can simply transfer the pasta and sweet potatoes to the pan with the vegetables and stir.

8. Once everything is combined, you’re done!

9. Enjoy the pasta over a bed of greens with some avocado or alone!