Orecchiette with Cabbage, Peas & Lemon Cashew Cream Sauce

This recipe was created to be shared as a guest post on a wildly popular (& one of my favorite) vegan blogs in January. Well, now it’s March, & needless to say, that post never made it to fruition. Major fail. First of all, with a multitude of things happening in every area of my life, I struggled to find inspiration. Then, when it finally hit, I tried to jam the creation, cooking, & photographing of the dish on a rare free day, which also happened to be a rare rainy day. The lighting was tricky, I was impatient & preoccupied, & just wasn’t satisfied with how the photos turned out. I had intended to remake & re-shoot with a few minor tweaks, but then life got in the way, hence, this little recipe & my opportunity to be featured on a major vegan blog slipped away.

It’s been quite a while since I’ve posted a recipe here, so when I stumbled upon these photos in my library, I thought why not share it on my own blog? After all, the dish was pretty fantastic (& Mom agreed). At first, I thought I’d save it for my new blog project, but that’s been set aside while I settle into my new house, & since this is a seasonal recipe, I thought it best that I share it here now, especially since St. Paddy’s Day is just around the corner. The vibrant bursts of green cabbage & peas liven up this pasta dish while adding the perfect hue to make it fit for a festive feast.

So, first, a little back story on how this dish came to be, & then you’ll get to the goods. If you are familiar with me at all, you know that I am a huge proponent of eating as seasonally & locally as possible. I’ve been a proud shareholder of a local organic farm for 3 years now. Being a CSA member has made a huge impact on my diet & challenges me to expand my palette & recipe repertoire. I don’t have a choice in what I get, which I think is awesome. I have a newfound appreciation for veggies that I might not have sought out on my own, like okra, kohlrabi, turnips, kabocha squash, etc. At the same time, the overabundance of certain seasonal items can get a bit tedious. I am certainly not complaining, I am so grateful to have fresh, organic, local food at my fingertips, but there are certain items I wouldn’t mind seeing a bit less of towards the end of their season.

In the winter, it’s cabbage. Week after week, I see a lot of it. I have a few go-tos to get me through the season, but I am always looking for new ways to cook & enjoy this particularly abundant wintergreen. When yet another head of cabbage arrived in my share, I set out to try a new type of recipe. I’ve made endless salads, a few soups, & plenty of coleslaw, cabbage wraps, & even a vegan colcannon, but had never used it in a pasta dish. As I searched for some inspiration for what to do with this Savoy cabbage, I stumbled upon a recipe from Epicurious that struck my fancy. This recipe incorporates cabbage with some of my favorite combos, pasta, peas, & a rich cream sauce! However, this dish was far from vegan. Inspiration achieved & challenge accepted. I knew exactly how to proceed with this cabbage situation, & make a vegan version of this seemingly tasty dish.

ORECCHIETTE WITH SAVOY CABBAGE, PEAS & LEMON-CASHEW CREAM SAUCE Author: Melissa, Honey Bee Vegan Recipe Type: Pasta, Main Dish Cuisine: Vegan, Italian-inspired

INGREDIENTS

• 1 pound orecchiette, or shell pasta

• 2 Tbsp vegan butter

• 1 small Savoy cabbage, quartered lengthwise, core discarded, & leaves thinly sliced crosswise

• 1 bunch of scallions, thinly sliced (1 cup)

• ½ cup organic vegetable broth

• ½ cup prepared cashew “heavy” cream

• 1 cup thawed organic frozen peas

• 2 tsp finely grated fresh lemon zest

• juice of ½ a lemon

• ¾ tsp sea salt

• ¼ tsp black pepper

  
  

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Cook pasta in a large pot of boiling salted water until al dente.

2. While pasta cooks, heat vegan butter in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Sauté cabbage, & stir until golden, about 5 minutes.

3. Add scallions, vegetable broth, & cashew cream. Bring to a boil, reduce heat & simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until cabbage is tender, about 2 minutes.

4. Remove from heat & stir in peas, lemon zest, lemon juice, sea salt, & pepper.

5. Before draining pasta, reserve 1 cup of pasta cooking water & set aside. Combine pasta with cabbage mixture and ¾ cup reserved pasta water in a large bowl. Moisten with remaining water if needed. Top with an additional squeeze of lemon juice, lemon zest & red pepper. I also added micro arugula as a garnish.

CASHEW "HEAVY" CREAM SAUCE

Author: Melissa, Honey Bee Vegan

INGREDIENTS

• ½ cup unsalted cashews, soaked overnight

• ⅓-1/2 cup filtered water

• ¼ tsp kosher salt

INSTRUCTIONS

1. In a food processor or high-speed blender, combine cashews, water, & salt.

2. Blend until smooth & creamy, about 5 minutes, adding more water to thin the consistency if needed.

Note: for this recipe, I thinned out the cashew cream considerably to resemble the consistency of heavy cream.

It wasn’t until after we’d polished off the entire batch (over the course of a weekend, mind you) that the perfect topping for this dish occurred to me. TEMPEH BACON! Where had my brain been? Not only would it add a pop of color, but it would also add another layer of flavor & texture. So promise me when you try this dish that you will add tempeh bacon, & let me know if I was truly on to something. I most certainly will add that topping when I make this dish again. Enjoy!