Creamy Vegan Fettuccine Alfredo Recipe

Alfredo sauce, with its contentious origins, is seen by many to be a product of Italo-American fusion. We can confirm however, that alfredo’s real roots lie in Italy, as do most of the world’s best loved pasta dishes... or so we would argue. The work of Alfredo di Lelio in early twentieth-century Rome, this luxuriously indulgent sauce was originally made for his wife, Ines, when she became pregnant and needed a culinary cure for her nausea. Not only was the sauce a great home success, it also became a much-loved staple of Di Lelio’s restaurant in Rome, mixed in with generous heaps of fresh fettuccine. Notoriously creamy, our vegan take on this iconic dish is certainly no less luxurious; by blending smooth cashew milk and gently steamed cauliflower, the result is a gloriously indulgent sauce, worth every inch of its status as an Italian classic.

Serves 3-4

Prep time: 20 minutes (excluding time to make fresh fettuccine)

Cook time: 10 minutes

Nutrition: 556kcal per serving

Ingredients

• a batch of fresh fettuccine made from vegan dough or approx 400g dry vegan fettuccine
• 500g cauliflower heads
• 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 4 garlic cloves, grated or minced
• 1 onion, diced
• 50g of grated vegan parmesan or 4 tbsp of nutritional yeast (plus extra to serve)
• 2 tbsp of lemon juice
• a tbsp of dried Italian herbs
• 250 ml of cashew milk or other plant based milk
• salt and freshly cracked pepper to taste

Should you need any guidance on how to make fresh vegan pasta, follow along with Head Chef Roberta as she takes you through the process, step by step.

Method

1. If making the fettuccine by hand, first follow our step-by-step guide on how to make this easy pasta shape here. If cooking with dry pasta, start from step 2.
2. Place the cauliflower in a steamer and cook for around 10 minutes, until it becomes soft. Take off the heat and let cool.
3. While the cauliflower is cooling, heat the olive oil in a saucepan over a medium heat and add the diced onion. Fry until until it has a soft, caramelised consistency, making sure to keep stirring so as to avoid the onion burning and sticking to the pan. Add the garlic and cook for a few more minutes, until the garlic is golden, but not brown.
4. Place the cauliflower in a blender along with the vegan parmesan or nutritional yeast, lemon juice, dried Italian herbs, and milk, as well as the onion and garlic. Blend all of the ingredients together until it takes on a luxuriously smooth consistency. Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste.
5. Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil and add the pasta. If cooking from fresh, cook your fettuccine for around 3-4 minutes. Otherwise, follow packet instructions.
6. To finish, drain the pasta, ensuring to reserve a little pasta water to add to the sauce.
7. Add the fettuccine to the alfredo sauce with a ladle of pasta water and mix well. Serve warm and garnish with freshly cracked black pepper and vegan parmesan or nutritional yeast. Buon appetito, enjoy!