Cheezy Chickpea Pasta and Peas

Cheezy Sauce Ingredients:

1 large potato (or two small-medium potato) microwaved, baked, or boiled

¼ cup mashed baked/boiled sweet potato OR boiled carrots chunks

¼ cup cooked quinoa or brown rice

½ cup unsweetened soy milk

1/3 cup jarred roasted red pepper strips (or one large red pepper from jar)

2 tsp miso paste

¼ cup nutritional yeast flakes

2 cloves raw garlic

1 tsp lemon juice

1 tsp apple cider vinegar

½ tsp onion powder

¼ tsp ground cumin

¼ tsp paprika

dash of salt to taste

¼- ½ cup vegetable broth and/or reserved pasta cooking water

Directions:

  1. Cook your potato (works with russet or Yukon gold)! I use the microwave for speed, or sometimes I’ll just heat up a leftover baked potato - but you can also chop your potato into large chunks and boil it in some water on the stove. Just make sure it’s fully cooked, but not so soft it’s disintegrating

  2. Cook your sweet potato and/or carrots - I switch this up depending on what I have on hand. If you use a carrot or two you can either microwave it, or also chop it into chunks and boil it with your potato on the stove.

  3. For the cooked rice or quinoa, I usually just use whichever I have already cooked up and stored in my fridge for the week, and microwave it briefly to steam it, but you can also cook some up fresh if you need to.

  4. Once your potatoes and veggies are cooked, add them along with all the remaining ingredients (EXCEPT the veggie broth or pasta water!) to your blender and blend fully until smooth.

  5. Depending on how thick or what consistency you like for your sauce, add a little bit of veggie broth, water, or reserved pasta cooking water (the starch in this works great to help make the cheeze extra creamy and smooth) at a time, until you reach your desired consistency.

  6. Cook your favorite whole grain or legume pasta (I usually use chickpea pasta because it cooks quickly and is very filling) as usual, rinse.

  7. Add your rinsed pasta to a pan, pour the cheezy sauce over it, and mix in about 1-2 cups of frozen peas or other cooked veggies/mushrooms and mix until peas are heated.

  8. Serve warm, or store in jars for meal prep and reheat at a later date!