Sadly, not everyone in our house can handle the amount of dairy that we kids can digest. To say we like our cheese is an understatement. There have been talks of getting a dairy cow to support our addiction, but after the way we complain about taking care of our dog’s basic needs, a cow might be a bit much. Whenever we are looking for a new recipe, we see millions of delicious looking meals that involve heavy cream, which we cannot make. So when we saw a recipe for Cashew Cream Pasta, we were intrigued.
Can a Nut Create a Cream?
This recipe got us thinking. We have tried almond milk, and it is not that bad, though we do not like messing with our dairy. But we always wondered, how do they make nuts into dairy products? It was time to experiment.
This particular recipe called for cashews to be boiled in water and then pureed. How simple is that? Is this really the way to make nut cream?
After draining the nuts from the boiling water, we poured them into our blender with a half cup of water. When we hit blend, nothing. We started hitting all of the buttons, and we are now in need of a new blender. It is dead.
Good thing we have our immersion blender to the rescue. As we began, we were getting very worried. This was looking awful. The directions said to blend for at least a minute, so we kept up our swirling.
It did start to look smoother, however, it was more of a soft ice cream consistency than a heavy cream. We then added a 1/4 cup of water to see what would happen. That was the maximum suggested by the recipe, but it was still too thick so we added another 1/4 cup. We were very curious about the taste, and it actually wasn’t all that bad. Perhaps a bit bland, but surprisingly it tasted creamy.
Putting Together the Cashew Cream Pasta
It would be better with bacon.
-Said everyone, always.
As we were pulling ingredients out of the refrigerator, we spotted some uncooked bacon. We have already discussed on our blog the trials of Mom’s bacon cooking. We have to admit, it does make such a mess. However, what meal would not taste better with some bacon? We started there.
We then brought out our favorite mashing tool and pounded the chicken. For those of us who are not crazy about the texture of chicken breasts, this is an important step in making the meat more tender.
The next step was to cook the chicken in a well oiled pan. But why waste all of that bacon grease? After sprinkling the chicken with our herbs, we fried it in 3 tablespoons of leftover grease. It created such a nice looking browning on the edges, that we may have an official reason to start every meal with bacon.
After removing the chicken from the pan, we only added a drop or two of olive oil to the pan with our garlic. Then we added the chicken broth, wine, and lemon juice.
We couldn’t keep all dairy out of this recipe, but respect anyone who could do such a thing. We grated some Monterey Jack cheese and let this melt into the sauce.
Next, we added the cashew cream. It was still pretty thick, but we figured that would work well with the pasta. This was looking pretty good!
Our last step was to add the chicken and pasta to the sauce.
Was our Experiment with Cashew Cream Pasta a Success?
Absolutely! It was surprising how creamy and rich the flavor was with the hint of lemon. Next time we plan to add even a bit more water to the Cashew Cream as it was pretty thick, especially once the pasta absorbed some of the sauce.
We are curious to know what we can use our extra cashew cream for next.
Cashew Cream Pasta
Can a Nut Make a Creamy Sauce?
Ingredients
Cashew Cream
- 1 Cup Raw Cashews
- 1/2-1 Cup Water
- ¼ Teaspoon Salt
For the Meat
- 1.5 Pounds Chicken Breast
- 8 Ounces of Bacon (Reserve 3 Tablespoons of Grease)
- 1 Tablespoons Olive Oil
- ¾ Teaspoon Dried Parsley
- ¾ Teaspoon Dried Basil
- ½ Teaspoon Salt
- ½ Teaspoon Black Pepper
For the Pasta Sauce
- 12 Ounces Pasta
- 1 Tablespoon Minced Garlic
- 2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
- ⅓ Cup White Wine
- ½ Cup Cashew Cream
- ¾ Cup Monterey Jack Shredded Cheese
- ⅔ Cup Chicken Broth
- 1 Teaspoon Salt
- ¼ Teaspoon Black Pepper
- 2 Tablespoons Lemon Juice
Instructions
- Add the cashews to a small pot and cover with water.
- Bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium/low, and let simmer for about 20 minutes to soften.
- After 20 minutes, drain and rinse the cashews and add to a blender (or use an immersion blender) with 1/2 cup of water and the salt.
- Blend until completely smooth. Add an additional 1/4 cup to 1/2 cup more water to get the consistency you like. Blend for about 1 full minute to ensure it's smooth.
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and cook pasta according to package instructions.
- Pound the chicken breasts until they are about 1/2 inch thick. Mix the parsley, basil, salt, and pepper in a small bowl.
- Coat the chicken with the spices.
- Cook bacon on the stovetop and reserve 3 tablespoons of grease. Cook chicken in bacon grease. Let cook on each side for about 5 minutes or until fully cooked through and golden brown. Once cooked, cut into bite sized pieces and set aside.
- To the same pan, add the garlic and olive oil. Saute until the garlic is golden brown. Add in the white wine and let simmer until it has at least cooked off by half. Add in all remaining sauce ingredients and whisk until smooth.
- Let simmer for a few minutes to let the cheese melt. Stir in the pasta, then add in the chicken.
- Top with bacon and enjoy!
Cashew Cream
Cashew Cream Pasta
Notes
Adapted from Eat with Clarity