Vegan Cacio e Pepe

• servings: 4 servings
• total time: 30 minutes

Ingredients

Kosher salt

1/3 cup nutritional yeast

1/4 cup cashew butter

2 tablespoons white miso paste

1 tablespoon whole black peppercorns

16 ounces dried spaghetti

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling

1/2 lemon, squeezed as needed (optional)

Directions

Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil over high. (Go easy on the salt here, since the miso paste added in Step 4 is high in salt.) Add the nutritional yeast, cashew butter and miso to a small bowl and stir into a thick paste. Crush the peppercorns using the flat side of a knife. (Alternatively, you can roughly chop them, or use a pepper grinder set to a coarse setting.)

Add the pasta to the boiling water, reduce the temperature to medium, and cook, stirring occasionally, about 2 minutes before al dente according to package instructions. Reserve 2 1/2 cups pasta cooking water, then drain the pasta.

Add 1/4 cup olive oil to the empty pot and heat over medium. Add about two-thirds of the crushed black peppercorns and toast, stirring frequently, until fragrant, 2 to 3 minutes.

Add the miso mixture, and stir, then whisk in 1 3/4 cups reserved pasta water until sauce is smooth. Add the pasta to the sauce and cook over medium-high, tossing it constantly and vigorously with tongs, until the sauce is glossy and the pasta is fully al dente, 1 to 2 minutes. Add an extra splash of reserved pasta water to keep the sauce glossy, if needed.

Divide among bowls. Drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with remaining crushed pepper and serve immediately.

Nutrition

• Calories: 718
• Total Fat: 24 g
• Saturated Fat: 4 g
• Unsaturated Fat: 18 g
• Trans Fat: 0 g
• Sodium: 430 mg
• Total Carbohydrate: 100 g
• Dietary Fiber: 10 g
• Total Sugars: 5 g
• Protein: 30 g