I’ve been trying to make a note of ingredients used when I make random dishes because every now and again they’re fricking awesome and I want to share them but can’t remember what I did or what I used!
I was really glad I made notes of this one. This was really yummy. A comforting pasta dish with a cheesy, yet vegan, sauce on top.

Ingredients:
300g pasta (I used lentil pasta)
1 tbsp oil
2 red onions (thinly sliced)
3 cloves garlic (minced)
1 tbsp tomato puree
10 sundried tomatoes (chopped)
500g mushrooms (sliced)
1 400g can chopped tomatoes
½ cup (a couple of handfuls) frozen peas
2 tbsp fresh basil (roughly chopped)
Salt and pepper to taste
A dash of balsamic vinegar
‘Cheesy’ sauce:
1 cup (150g) cashews (soaked in boiling water for 30mins then drained)
1 cup (250ml) stock
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
2 tbsp tapioca starch
½ tsp garlic powder
3 tbsp nutritional yeast
Pinch of salt
Time: 1hr
Serves 4
- Bring a saucepan of water to the boil and put in the pasta (cook as per instructions on the packaging usually about 10 mins). Meanwhile…
- Heat the oil in a large saucepan over a medium high heat and add the red onion. Cook for 5-7 minutes until soft.
- Add the garlic and cook for a further minute. Then add the tomato puree and stir to coat the onion and garlic.
- Add the sundried tomatoes and mushrooms and stir around cooking until the mushrooms have released their juices and shrunk down (about 7 minutes).
- Preheat the oven to 200°C.
- Add the chopped tomatoes and peas and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook until the sauce thickens a little 5-10 mins.
- Put all the cheesy sauce ingredients into a blender and blend until smooth.
- Once everything is ready stir the basil into the tomatoey veggies and add salt, pepper and balsamic vinegar to taste.
- Mix the pasta into the veggie sauce and add to a large oven-proof dish.
- Top with the cheesy sauce and cook in the oven for about 25 minutes until the sauce has browned slightly and the dish is hot through.
- Serve on its own or with a side salad.