This post is sponsored by O Organics® and the Healthy Aperture Blogger Network. O Organics, available exclusively at Jewel-Osco stores in the greater Chicago area, features more than 300 items for every occasion throughout the grocery store – from fresh fruits and vegetables, to wholesome dairy and meats, cereals, snacks, and more. Thanks for letting brands like O Organics® support this blog! As always, opinions are all my own.
Happy first day of fall! Even though it doesn’t feel like fall yet here in Chicago, that doesn’t mean I haven’t already been looking forward to more cool weather comfort dishes. I promise I have not busted out the pumpkin yet, although I do have some great pumpkin recipes planned for October! I did turn on the oven to make this delicious creamy vegan penne pasta though.
The great thing about this creamy vegan penne pasta is that you can whip it up anytime by keeping box of penne pasta, a jar of tomato basil sauce, and a bottle of olive oil all from the O Organics® line on hand in your pantry. If you live in the Chicago area, you can find these and more O Organics® brand products in your local Jewel-Osco store. (In fact, they are adding 100 new items to the shelves soon!) Not only did the O Organics® tomato basil pasta sauce make this dish even simpler, but it was super tasty and had no added sugar. (That’s right, some brands like to sneak sugar into their pasta sauce!)
If you don’t have a high speed blender (like me!), I find that soaking the cashews overnight makes for a smoother sauce. However, if you forgot to soak some cashews but you want to make this dish tonight, simply cover your raw cashews with boiling water and let them soak for at least 15 minutes and they should be soft enough to puree.
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Fool your friends with this delicious creamy baked red pepper penne pasta – they’ll never guess it is dairy free! The secret is the pureed cashew cream.
Ingredients
For the Pasta:
- 1/2 lbs dried O Organics Penne Rigate pasta
- 2 cups O Organics tomato basil pasta sauce
- 1 (16 oz.) jar roasted red peppers, drained
- 1 cup raw cashews, soaked 2 hours to overnight
- 1 cup vegetable broth
- 1 tablespoon O Organics olive oil
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
- 1/8th teaspoon salt
- 3 cups fresh baby spinach leaves
For the Topping:
- 1/4 cup breadcrumbs
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 1/8th teaspoon black pepper
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Bring 2 quarts of water to a rapid boil. Add the penne pasta to the boiling water and stir gently. Return to a rapid boil and cook, uncovered, for 8 minutes. (You want to undercook it a couple minutes since you bake it as well.) Drain the pasta and set aside.
- While the pasta boils, add the pasta sauce and red peppers to a food processor and puree until smooth.
- Rinse the food processor (or use a single serving blender cup) to puree with cashews and broth together until smooth.
- In a skillet, add the olive oil and garlic. Cook for 1 minute until garlic is fragrant. Stir in the pureed cashews, nutritional yeast, and salt.
- Combine the pasta, cashew cream, tomato sauce, and spinach leaves together in a large bowl (or the same pot used to cook the pasta) and transfer to an 8″x8″ baking dish.
- In a small bowl, mix the breadcrumbs, Italian seasoning, and black pepper. Sprinkle evenly over the pasta and bake for 25-30 minutes or until breadcrumbs have started to brown and sauce is bubbling.
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