Creamy Lemon Pasta with Snap Peas
This creamy lemon pasta is packed with lemony goodness, from lemon juice in the sauce to zest sprinkled on top, and it is SUPER silky. Enjoy my friend!
Ingredients
Creamy Lemon Pasta
- 1/3 cup plus 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 medium yellow onion chopped
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1 cup cashews soaked overnight in a bowl of water
- 2/3 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 1/3 cup warm vegetable broth you can also use water mixed with 1/4 teaspoon salt instead
- 1 tablespoon yeast flakes
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 16 ounces dry penne pasta
Sautéed Snap Peas
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 8 ounces snap peas poke-y ends trimmed off
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
Toppings
- Zest from 1 lemon
- 1/4 cup finely chopped fresh parsley
- 1/4 cup finely chopped toasted almonds
Instructions
Creamy Lemon Pasta
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Heat 2 tablespoons of the olive oil in a large frying pan over medium high heat. Add the onion and sautée until softened and transparent, about 5 minutes, stirring every minute or so. Add the garlic and 1/2 teaspoon of the salt and stir to combine. Cook until the garlic has softened and is fragrant, about 3 minutes more, stirring often. Remove from heat and set aside to cool for 5 minutes. (Meanwhile, you can prep zesting and juicing the lemon and chopping the garnishes so they're ready to go once the dish is done.)
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Drain the cashews and place them in a blender with the onion mixture, lemon juice, vegetable broth, yeast flakes, remaining 1 teaspoon salt, and black pepper. Blend at medium high speed, and add the remaining 1/3 cup olive oil in a thin steady stream through the small removable hole in the top of the blender while it's blending. Blend until silky smooth, then transfer the sauce to a medium-sized saucepan and set it aside.
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Follow the directions on the box of pasta to prepare the pasta. While it's boiling, you can sautée the snap peas in the next step.
Sautéed Snap Peas
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Heat the olive oil in a medium or large frying pan over medium high heat. Add the snap peas and salt and sauté until they turn bright green but are still crunchy in texture (don't be afraid to give it a bite to texture-test!), about 4 to 5 minutes, stirring every 30 seconds. Take off the heat and set aside.
Assembly
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Towards the end of the pasta cooking time, place the saucepan with the creamy lemon sauce over low heat, and add 1/2 cup of the water from the boiling pasta pot to the sauce and stir to combine (this will help the sauce stick to the pasta later on).
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When the pasta is al dente (aka *nearly* cooked), drain it, then add it to the pot of sauce and toss to coat. Continue cooking the pasta in the sauce until your desired tenderness of the pasta is reached. Plate a serving of the pasta in a bowl, put a generous scoop of snap peas on top, and sprinkle with the lemon zest, finely chopped parsley, and chopped toasted almonds. Repeat with the remaining servings and enjoy immediately!