Recipe: Two Men and a Mom Sarah King's Golden Pasta with Peas

I like to cook. It’s kinda my thing.

We are an allergy household. My son has an egg allergy. My husband, Eddie, is allergic to shellfish. And I’m lactose intolerant. I need to be EXTRA creative when it comes to making meals that all of us can eat.

During this last Thanksgiving, I really missed eating mac n’ cheese. Who doesn’t love mac n’ cheese? So comforting. So satiating. After digging through a few vegan mac n’ cheese recipes and making much needed tweaks, I am super happy with the outcome of this dish. I don’t like calling it “Mac N’ Cheese” though -- I mean it’s crazy tasty, but it’s not actually cheese. I decided to call it “Golden Pasta with Peas”. It’s loaded with vegetables and nutrients, so take that toddlers out there!

My son always asks for seconds when I make it. I hope you and your little ones like it too!

Golden Pasta with Peas

1-1.5 cups peeled sweet potato, chopped
1 cup of cashews (soaked for at least 4 hours, or 2 hours in hot water)
½ can pureed pumpkin (15oz can)
1 medium onion, diced
1.5 Tbl olive oil
1 Tbl turmeric
½ cup nutritional yeast*
1 Cup full fat Coconut Milk
1-1.5 Tbl dry white wine (optional)
Salt to taste
1 LB pasta (Gnocchi is best, though macaroni works well too)
½ cup frozen peas

Fill a saucepan that has a tight fitting lid with an inch or so of water, place a steamer insert into the pot, put chopped sweet potatoes onto the steamer, place lid on the pot. Turn burner to medium-high and steam potatoes until you can pierce them easily with a fork (about 8 minutes).

While your potato steams, add olive oil to a sauté pan set to medium-high. Add onion and cook until translucent, about 4-5 minutes. Add a pinch of salt to the onions while they cook.

Into the jar of a blender -- add the steamed sweet potatoes, pureed pumpkin, soaked cashews, sautéed onions, turmeric, nutritional yeast, coconut milk, white wine (if using). Puree all the ingredients until very smooth. If mixture becomes too thick, add more coconut milk or water. Salt to taste.

Cook pasta to package directions. Reserve ¼ cup of the pasta water. Drain pasta, add pasta water and cup of sauce back to the pan you cooked the pasta in. Add pasta and frozen peas. Stir and eat!

(BTW, this dish goes really well with a glass of Sauvignon Blanc)

*Nutritional Yeast is found in most natural food stores. It packs a nutritional punch and acts sort of as a parmesan cheese alternative.

**Feel free to add steamed carrots or red/orange bell peppers too. This dish is great at hiding veggies!

Sarah is a mom of one and is the mom at Mix 101.5 WRAL-FM's morning show, Two Men and a Mom. You also can find her on Facebook. Go Ask Mom features recipes every Friday. For more, check WRAL.com's recipe database.