Spaghetti with a Vegan Cauliflower “Alfredo”

It’s here everybody! It’s finally here! The first copy of my cookbook has arrived in the mail!!

How did this happen??? So you know how I worked on a “Passion Project” for this whole semester? Well to mark the end of it, I had to pick a final deliverable. Naturally I chose to make a fully printed, legit cookbook! (aka a dream come true!) After countless hours working on the layout, I finally sent it to the publisher and received it at my house! It’s a hardcover copy with beautiful recipes, photos and illustrations. I organized it by types of meat or fish, which makes it super convenient to look up recipes! I’m so excited to have such a concrete representation of all the hard work that I have done. It truly is the most gratifying feeling!

Over the semester, I learned so much about food, cooking, proteins and techniques to make me a better cook. This book summarizes all that I have learned so it’s a great ressource to brush up on my cooking knowledge. It was a wonderful experience to take classes and step outside of my comfort zone. I feel more comfortable in the kitchen, and so creative about vegetables now that I have cooked so much meat…

To celebrate, I decided to try out a comfort food stapple with a healhty twist. You know how I love those by now! So I gave cauliflower Alfredo a shot, and it turned out to be great! Super easy to make and sooo creamy and delicious. All that dairy-free of course! Now don’t get me wrong, I do love cheese more than anything else. If I could only eat one thing, it would probably be it. But I find it fascinating how you can turn veggies into crazy substitutes. Here, cauliflower is the base for a deliciously vegan creamy sauce.

Just to clarify, this is not at all cheesy like Alfredo though. Rather it’s just as creamy! A lot of bloggers then add some nutritional yeast to the sauce to give it that cheesy taste. I don’t know why but I feel weird about yeast… It just looks so unappetizing that I never use it. I’m also not vegan so if I want some cheesy flavor, I just add some real cheese! But hey, if you’re into that definitely add some to the mix for a closer Alfredo taste! If you’re not, then you can grate some fresh Parmesan on top for delicious results! Bon appétit!

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Total time: 20 minutes

Ingredients: 

• 2-3 oz. thin spaghetti (or angel hair)
• 1/4 small cauliflower head
• 2 garlic cloves, peeled, smashed
• 1/2 bouillon cube
• 1/4 cup unsweetened almond milk (could sub with milk or 1/2 tbsp ricotta if not vegan)
• 1/4 cup cooking water (or 1/3 if using ricotta)
• 2 fresh squeezes of lemon juice
• 2 tsp olive oil
• kosher salt and lemon pepper
• oregano

Directions:

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.
2. Cut the cauliflower into florets. Toss them in the water with the garlic cloves and the bouillon cube. Cook for about 10 minutes.
3. Use a slotted spoon to transfer the cauliflower into a food processor. Discard the garlic. Dump the pasta into the water and let it cook for the time indicated on the packaging (about 5-6 minutes).
4. Pulse the cauliflower with some olive oil, a squeeze of lemon juice, salt, and almond milk (or ricotta). Add some cooking water as you go to thin the sauce until it becomes creamy.
5. Drain the pasta and toss it with the cauliflower alfredo. Sprinkle with some oregano and lemon pepper, and add a squeeze of lemon juice and a drizzle of olive oil. Enjoy!

“Spaghetti avec une Sauce Alfredo au Chou-Fleur”

Temps Total: 20 minutes

Ingrédients: 

• 80g de spaghetti fins
• 1/4 de chou-fleur
• 2 gousses d’ail, pelées, écrasées
• 1/2 bouillon cube
• 1/4 tasse de lait d’amande non-sucré (lait normal ou 1/2 c.s de ricotta si non-végétalien)
• 1/4 tasse d’eau de cuisson (1/3 de tasse si vous substituez avec la ricotta)
• 1/4 citron pressé
• 2 c.c d’huile d’olive
• sel de mer et poivre citronné
• origan

Directions:

1. Faites bouillir de l’eau salée dans une grande casserole.
2. Coupez le chou-fleur en morceaux. Faites les bouillir pendant environ 10 minutes avec les gousses d’ail écrasées et le bouillon cube.
3. A l’aide d’une cuillère percée, transférez le chou-fleur dans le bol d’un robot. Jetez l’ail. Mettez les pâtes dans l’eau et laissez-les cuire pour le temps indiqué sur le paquet (5-6 minutes).
4. Mixez le chou-fleur avec de l’huile d’olive, la moitié du jus de citron, du sel et du lait d’amande (ou ricotta). Ajoutez de l’eau de cuisson au fur et à mesure pour affiner la sauce jusqu’à ce qu’elle soit crémeuse.
5. Égouttez les pâtes et mélangez-les à la sauce. Garnissez avec de l’origan, du poivre citronné, le jus de citron restant et un filet d’huile d’olive. Bon appétit!

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