Creamy Cashew Ricotta + Butternut Squash = Fantastic
I love finding beautiful butternut squash in the markets all winter long. My goal is to come back home and figure out what to make out of them. Yesterday I steamed one that yielded about 2 cups and came up with this meal for our dinner tonight. This mixture would also be great layered in lasagna but I was just not in the mood for a lasagna ordeal today!
Butternut Squash Cashew Ricotta
1 cup steamed and mashed butternut squash
2 cups raw cashews *
2 shallots
2 cloves of garlic
1 leek
The juice of 1/2 lemon
3 tablespoon nutritional yeast (nooch)
Fresh nutmeg, 5 or 6 scrapes on a rasp
Pinch of salt
Filtered water
Prep the squash and steam until soft. Drain and mash. Use 1 cup for this recipe and save the rest for another day.
* If you don’t have a Vitamix, soak the cashews overnight.
Clean the leek. Coarsely chop the leek, shallots and garlic. Water or oil sauté the vegetables until soft.
Place the raw cashews into the Vitamix, processor, or blender and just cover with water. Add the lemon juice, nooch, a few scrapes of fresh nutmeg and a pinch of salt. Blend until the mixture looks like creamy ricotta. Add the sautéed leeks mixture and butternut squash. Blend again for another minute or so until incorporated.
Creamy Butternut Squash Pasta Dinner
Butternut squash cashew ricotta
Pasta
Tomato sauce
Macadamia nuts, for garnish
Boil up some pasta. Drain and add back to the pot with the creamy butternut squash mixture and tomato sauce. Bring to heat and then serve.
To make it pretty, scrap a macadamia nut on a rasp over the bowl of pasta. Enjoy!