A Stunningly Delicious Alfredo Sauce – sans Butter, Cream, and Eggs! (Vegan)

Never would I imagine saying my new favorite cookbook is vegan – but it’s true. Everything I’ve made from the  Thug Kitchen Cookbook has been outstanding. The recipes don’t try to imitate meat or compensate for the lack of dairy and eggs by using an overabundance of nuts, nut butters, and avocados. You’re eating vegetables. Enjoy them. The recipes are so tasty that a hating vegan-food husband agrees that it’s a winner cookbook. 

Be forewarned: saying this cookbook is profanity-laced is an understatement. A lot of hoopla spun through social media when it was published claiming it appropriated gangster speak, the language stupidly vulgar, and even racist. Get over it. The recipes are solid, easy to make, and cheap. And healthy, made with readily available pantry and veg bin ingredients. The photos are gorgeous, entice you to make the recipe, and the splattering of humor makes it a fun read. This is a cookbook for everyone, vegan, vegetarian, and carnivore.   

The maple granola is now our go-to recipe for such. The lentil tacos with carrot-jicama slaw rival any meat ones, and sweet potato, squash, and black bean enchiladas are some of the best enchiladas I’ve ever made. And the carrot cake cookies. We had to put them out of sight for fear we'd eat the whole batch. All in one sitting.

Last night I was desperate for “something different” and futzed around for at least an hour looking through online recipes and magazines. Finally. I found it on a Rachael Ray website, where she featured the TK authors. We had a head of cauliflower in the frig. I knew I had to make try it. It being cauliflower cream pasta sauce. It is so silky that it’s difficult to believe no butter or cream or eggs. And it has sooooo much garlicky goodness, which works well for our tastes.

This G-rated recipe reflects the updates I made to the original recipe. Enjoy!

Cauliflower Cream Pasta Sauce

Enough for 4 servings of pasta

1 medium head cauliflower, cut into small pieces

Pinch of salt

3 cloves garlic, whole
1/3 – 1/2 cup unsweetened plain almond milk
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/3 cup mix of fresh Italian herbs (oregano, rosemary, thyme, parsley)

Freshly grated black pepper and salt to taste

Pinch of red pepper flakes

A little bit of freshly grated Parmesan – optional / no longer vegan

Bring a medium pot of salted water seasoned to a boil. Add the cauliflower and garlic cloves and simmer until the cauliflower is tender, 5 to 7 minutes. Drain the cauliflower and toss into a blender. Add the milk, lemon juice, olive oil, the herbs, and a little salt to the blender. Process until the sauce is creamy. Taste and season with freshly grated black pepper, salt, and red pepper flakes.

Pour the sauce over hot cooked pasta and toss until everything is mixed and warm. Serve hot. Top with freshly grated Parmesan if you’re okay with a little dairy.