Feel Freda Talk

This is a new favorite, especially for the summer. It’s a filling dish, but it incorporates the freshness of ripe lemons and when you top it with fresh herbs, it really tastes like summer on a plate. You could also pair this with a glass of crisp chardonnay to really bring out the citrus.

This recipe originated from the plantyou cookbook, but we added a little twist with the ricotta cheese. So yummy and makes it just a little extra creamy.

Ingredients:

• 2 lemons, peeled and juiced
• 1 1/2 cups cashews, soaked overnight or boiled for 10 minutes
• 3 cloves garlic
• 3 tablespoons nutritional yeast
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 box pasta of your choice
• 1 3/4 cups pasta water
• 1 cup whole milk ricotta cheese, optional (omit for a vegan recipe)
• fresh basil
• fresh parsley
• freshly grated Parmesan cheese, optional (omit for a vegan recipe)

Directions:

1. Boil water for pasta while boiling the cashews (if not already soaked overnight).
2. Cook your pasta according to package instructions.
3. While pasta is cooking, peel both lemons, trying to avoid as much of the white pith as possible (unless you like it bitter).
   • When pasta is done cooking, reserve the pasta water when draining from pot.
4. In a food processor or blender, combine the lemon peels, juice from both lemons, garlic, nutritional yeast, cashews, salt, pepper, and 1 3/4 cups of pasta water. Blend until smooth.
5. Put pasta back into the pot it was cooked in and add the lemon peel pesto to the pot with the pasta. Cook it over medium heat until the pasta and sauce are both warmed.
   • You can use more of the pasta water to thin sauce, if needed.
6. ***Optional (but SO worth it): fold in 1 cup whole milk ricotta to the pasta in the pot. Top with fresh basil and/or fresh parsley, fresh lemon zest, and freshly grated Parmesan cheese.

***We love to serve this with garlic bread, as well.