Fettuccine noodles are tossed with artichoke hearts, fresh basil and a super flavorful, silky sun-dried tomato hemp seed Alfredo to make rich and creamy pasta dinner that you’d never know was vegan if I hadn’t just told you.
All I can say is I can’t believe it took me this long to make this stuff. I suspected hemp Alfredo sauce would be pretty good for a while. In fact, this goes back to when I made this spreadable vegan hemp cheese, which was really darn good.
I discovered so many things to love back when I made the hemp cheese, and those things carry over to this recipe. Let’s discuss.
Hemp seeds are nutritious. I like that they add plant-based protein and healthy fat to a dish that’s pretty notorious for being super bad for you. Replace heavy cream sauce with hemp seed sauce and bad-for-you no longer applies.
So you’d think, as is sometimes the case, that replacing the bad-for-you stuff with good-for-you stuff would mean it doesn’t taste as good or is lacking in texture or something like that. Right? But no! I promise you, this sauce is rich, creamy, silky and absolutely delicious. A few people asked me if the hemp cheese would have a bitter or planty taste. It doesn’t. I detected the slightest earthy undertone when I ate this, but I made it. My husband, who didn’t do the cooking, didn’t know what I was talking about when I asked if he tasted it.
Finally, this stuff is super easy to whip up. No soaking required. Throw it in the food processor, blend, boil some noodles, mix and eat. I’m not sure if dishes requiring a food processor meet the Martha Stewart standard for one-pot, but this is about as close as I’ve come to a one-pot dinner as far as this blog goes. One pot + small appliance. I’m patting myself on the back. I barely even messed up the kitchen when I made this. Big accomplishment.
Bob’s Red Mill has the hemp seeds you need for this recipe, and they’re perfect and great quality. They were cool enough to supply me with mine, but you can get some online or in the supermarket. They’re generally pretty easy to find. My small town grocery store has Bob’s hemp seeds, so yours probably does too.
- 1½ cups hulled hemp seeds
- 3 garlic cloves
- 2 tbsp. lemon juice
- ½ tsp. salt
- 1 cup unflavored soy or almond milk
- ½ cup oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes, drained (plus a few extra for garnish, if you'd like)
- 1 lb. dried fettuccine pasta
- 8 oz. artichoke hearts, canned or frozen and thawed, quartered
- ½ cup fresh basil leaves, packed
- Place hemp seeds, garlic, lemon juice, salt and ½ cup milk into food processor. Blend until smooth, stopping to scrape down sides of bowl as needed. Add remaining milk and blend again until smooth. Add ½ cup sun-dried tomatoes and pulse a few times until very finely chopped (or completely blended in, if you prefer).
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add pasta and cook according to package directions. Drain into a colander.
- Return to pot and add sun-dried tomato hemp seed Alfredo sauce, artichoke hearts and basil leaves. Toss to coat noodles with sauce. Garnish with a few extra sun-dried tomatoes.
- Divide onto plates and serve.
The sauce dries out rather quickly. If you don't serve this immediately, just add a few splashes of water or non-dairy milk and mix.
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