Vegan "Vodka" Sauce (aka Creamy Tomato Sauce)

I came up with this sauce recipe after seeing a post by Ashleigh Foster of @ispythebeautiful. The creamy tomato sauce looked so delicious, especially with sweet potato + potato noodles, I HAD to recreate it!! The carrots + bell pepper I added just for fun (the extra texture and nutrients are a bonus!) ;)

NOTE: There's no vodka in this sauce. I'm actually not sure why it's called vodka sauce when so many recipes for vodka sauce don't use vodka...vodka sauce is basically another term for creamy tomato sauce.

I really loved using the spiralizer to make potato noodles because it looked so much like spaghetti. It really felt like I was eating spaghetti again; it was such a treat!! And no bloating, brain fog or any sort of pain after eating it–huge win! If you don't have a spiralizer, you can steam or boil the potatoes and it's just as good! Although, it's not as fun in my opinion! You can add any other veggies you like to this dish, either to the sauce itself or steamed on the side.

Look how creamy this sauce looks! And those are the potato noodles!! I love eating this way :)

Vegan "Vodka" Sauce

Ingredients:

1 cup cashews

1 cup water

2 cups tomatoes

2 carrots, thinly sliced

1 red bell pepper, cut into bite-size pieces

1 red onion

3 garlic cloves

1-2 tsp tomato paste

juice of 1/2 lemon (about 1 tbsp)

fresh thyme + oregano (about 1 tsp each)

salt to taste

In a medium saucepan, sauté onion in water until caramelized, about 5 minutes (only adding a little water at a time so they don’t steam). Add in carrots, bell pepper, tomato and garlic. Stir to combine and add a bit more water if needed. Sauté for another 5 minutes or until tomatoes are broken down.

While the veggies cook, make the cashew cream. Add the cashews and water to a high speed blender or food processor with fresh thyme, oregano and lemon juice. Blend until smooth.

Pour cashew cream into the sautéed veggies and add the tomato paste. Stir well to combine. Add salt to taste and more lemon juice if you like. Turn off heat and serve on top of zucchini noodles, potato noodles or steamed veggies! Top with chopped fresh parsley.

Serves 2