Fettucine Alfreda

                       from Vegan with a Vengeance


My apologies for the lack of blogging this week. The week was pretty much consumed by The Day of Reckoning and its aftermath (which entailed gratuitous sleeping and gratuitous boozing).

I *DID* manage to squeeze in some cooking this past weekend though, mostly because cooking does wonders to calm my nerves. There's just something so relaxing in the method--the rhythm of dicing, the quietness of measuring, the gentleness of mixing. I heart it.

One of the things I made was the Fettucine Alfreda from VwaV. I'm not quite sure it tastes anything quite like alfredo sauce. It's got ASSLOADS of nutritional yeast in it, which I know will turn many of you off to the recipe immediately. And it looks kind of like you fed a baby a whole bunch of mustard and they got the runs. BUT! BUT BUT BUT! I thought it was fantastique. It's kind of a grown-up version of some of the mac-n-cheez recipes out there. It *IS* salty though, so I omitted the amount of salt originally called for in the recipe, because I think it may be overkill. I also think you could probably use close to a pound's worth of noodles with this sauce as well. It LOOKS like it makes a really small amount, but it's so potently flavored that a little goes a long way.

I served mine with a mix of fried shrooms on top, and I thought it was delish. My mom snacked on some when she watched my cats the other night, and she heartily concurred.

So nooch-haters, be forewarned. The rest of you--get you to your cookbook and try it out.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1/2 lb fettucine (or linguine)


• 2 t. olive oil


• 1 medium size onion, chopped into big chunks


• 4 cloves garlic, chopped


• 1/2 c. water or veg. broth


• 2 t. yellow mustard


• 1/2 c. toasted pinenuts


• 2 t. soy sauce


• 2 t. chili powder


• 1 c. nutritional yeast


• freshly ground black pepper

DIRECTIONS

Prepare pasta according to package.

In a skillet over moderate heat, sautee onions in oil for 3 minutes, until just softened. Add garlic, sautee two more minutes. Transfer to blender and blend with all other ingredients. It should be somewhat smooth but still a bit grainy.

Makes four servings.

(Recipe from VwaV, posted on Livejournal.com)