Rigatoni with Vegan Butternut Sage Cream Sauce and Toasted Pine Nuts. Rigatoni pasta is tossed in a sauce made of butternut squash, miso, cashews, sage, veg stock, and nutritional yeast and then topped with toasted pine nuts, fried sage leaves, and drizzled with white truffle oil.
Jump to RecipeI know I’m a little obsessed with this vegan cheese sauce and butternut squash… I’ll admit it. But, it’s winter and this is the type of food that we want when it’s cold and snowy. Well, at least I do. This dish came together pretty quickly when I was working on variations of the Vegan Cashew Cheese Sauce. I really only added some sage and a little extra butternut squash to the blender to make this vegan butternut sage cream sauce. The taste is just amazing… I love it.
You can use any type of pasta you like. I prefer sturdy pasta like rigatoni, penne, fusilli, gnocchi, and fettuccine for cream sauces as the sauce sticks really well to the pasta. To finish the dish- toast pine nuts in a dry pan making sure not to burn them and transfer to a small bowl. in a small pot, fill just the inside bottom of the pot with oil and fry the sage leaves. Transfer to a paper towel. Lastly, and optional, drizzle a very small amount (it’s very strong) of white truffle oil over the pasta. Full recipe below.
Rigatoni with Vegan Butternut Sage Cream Sauce and Toasted Pine Nuts
Ingredients
- 1 1/2-2 pounds Rigatoni pasta
- 1/4 cup pine nuts
- 8 fresh sage leaves
- a small amount of oil for frying about a 1/2 cup
- a drizzle of white truffle oil optional
Vegan Butternut Sage Cream Sauce:
- 1 Tablespoon olive oil
- 2 1/2 cups butternut squash peeled and chopped (approx. a 1/2 of a large butternut squash)
- 1/3 cup raw cashews soaked in water for an hour or two
- 2 cups vegetable stock
- 3 Tbsp. white miso
- 4 Tbsp. nutritional yeast
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 tsp. Frank’s red hot sauce
- juice of 1 lemon
- 1 tsp. kosher salt
- 4 fresh sage leaves
Instructions
Vegan Butternut Sage Cream Sauce:
- Preheat the oven to 425°F.
- Peel and chop the butternut squash into roughly 1″ cubes. Toss in olive oil, salt, and pepper. Roast in the oven on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper for 25 minutes or until cooked through.
- While squash is roasting- In a high-speed blender add remaining ingredients and blend on high for 1-3 minutes or until completely smooth.
- Add the squash to the blender and blend on high for 30 seconds. Set aside.
Finishing:
- Place the pine nuts in a dry saute pan and set over medium heat. Keep shaking the pan and toast the pine nuts making sure not to burn them. Transfer to a small plate.
- In a small pot heat the oil over medium heat. When the oil temperature reaches approx 375°F or sizzles when the tip of a sage leave is placed in, drop the sage leaves in the oil a few at a time. Fry until just crispy- 15-30 seconds. Transfer to a plate lined with a paper towel.
- Cook the pasta according to the package. Drain and place back in the pot. Add the vegan butternut sage cream sauce to the pasta and toss well.
- Plate each bowl of sauced pasta. Top with a sprinkling of pine nuts, 2 fried sage leaves, and a light drizzle of white truffle oil (if using).