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Almond Cacio e Pepe

Cacio e pepper is a classic Roman pasta dish that means “cheese and pepper.” In this version you make a dairy-free sauce with pureed soaked almonds, roasted garlic, and nutritional yeast to replicate the cheesy flavor of Pecorino. The Almond Cream Sauce is very versatile and can be used in any recipe that needs a creamy vegan sauce. Created by foodthinque on behalf of Almond Board of California
Almonds
Ingredients
Serves: 12
For the Almond Cream Sauce (yield about 5 cups)
  • 3 cups slivered almonds
  • 1 qt warm water
  • 2 cups water reserved from almonds
  • 1 ½ oz roasted garlic
  • 2 tsp nutritional yeast
  • 2 tsp kosher salt
  • 2/3 cup garlic oil
For the Cacio e Pepe
  • 1 ½ lb dry casarecce pasta
  • 1 qt Almond Cream Sauce
  • ¼ cup cracked black pepper
Preparation
For the Almond Cream Sauce
  1. Combine the almonds and warm water in a container. Soak for at least 2 hours (or up to 48 hours refrigerated).
  2. Drain the soaked almonds and reserve 2 ½ to 3 cups of the liquid.
  3. In a high-speed blender, combine the drained almonds, 2 cups of the reserved water, the roasted garlic, yeast, and salt.
  4. Blend on high for 45 seconds.
  5. With the blender running, drizzle in the garlic oil to emulsify.
  6. Continue blending until the sauce is smooth and creamy, adding more reserved water as needed.
  7. Cover and refrigerate.
For the Cacio e Pepe
  1. Cook the pasta to al dente; drain and reserve some of the cooking water.
  2. Combine the cooked pasta with the Almond Cream Sauce and thin as needed with reserved cooking water.
  3. Stir until the pasta is glazed and warm through.
  4. Toss with the black pepper and plate each serving.
Nutritional Info
Per Serving
NAME AMOUNT
Calories 510
Total Fat 34 g
Saturated Fat 3.5 g
Trans Fat 0 g
Cholesterol 0 mg
Sodium 210 mg
Total Carbohydrate 43 g
Dietary Fiber 8 g
Total Sugars 2 g
Protein 12 g
Vitamin D 0 mcg
Calcium 90 mg
Iron 3 mg
Potassium 302 mg
Did you know?

In addition to almonds being a delicious ingredient in our recipes they’re also heart healthy, gut healthy, and full of vitamins and nutrients - explore Health & Nutrition to learn more. Not only that, almond farmers are dedicated to sustainability - find out how they’re Growing Good.