Tomato Macadamia Mozzarella Linguine
This tomato linguine with macadamia ‘mozzarella’ is a really simple dish that only takes 20 minutes to make, and it is also great to take to work as it will keep in a lunch box really well. I’m particularly pleased with this recipe as it tastes like it should be more complicated than it is!
This recipe serves 5
Time: 20 Minutes
Equipment: mandolin, peeler, mixing bowl, high speed blender, chopping board, chefs knife
INGREDIENTS:
Linguine
• 4 carrots medium-size, peeled
• 4 parsnips medium-size, peeled
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 15 pcs basil leaves large-size, chiffonaded
• 2 tbsp Italian seasoning
• 2 cups baby plum tomatoes cut into small sections
Macadamia Mozzarella
• 1/2 cup macadamias
• 1/2 cup cashews
• 1 tbsp nama shoyu or tamari
• 2 tsp lemon juice
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 tbsp nutritional yeast
Red Pepper Sauce
• 1/2 cup pine nuts
• 1 red pepper
• 1/2 tbsp lemon juice
• 1 tbsp tamari
• 1 tbsp agave
METHOD:
Turn the carrot and parsnip into thin strands with a mandolin or vegetable peeler. You can also make spaghetti using a spiral slicer.
In a bowl, combine the vegetable pasta (linguine) you have produced with the salt and mix well by hand. Leave to stand whilst preparing the mozzarella.
Combine all mozzarella ingredients in a Vitamix or food processor. (A Vitamix isn’t a food processor. It’s more of a blender, but no other blender that I know of is suitable to make the cheese, so an ‘ordinary’ processor is the next best thing.)
Blend until a creamy texture is achieved. You may need to add a couple of tablespoons of extra water to get it all to mix. Set aside.
Mix all red pepper sauce ingredients in a Vitamix or blender until smooth. (A regular blender is OK for this, as the mixture is saucier than the cheese.) Again, you may need to add water to get a ‘sauce’ consistency.
Go back to the linguine and you should find that it has released its water and is now softer and has a cooked ‘al dente’ feel. Wash the salt off and dry with a kitchen towel or a salad spinner.
Transfer linguine to a clean, dry bowl and add the remaining linguine ingredients. When thoroughly mixed, add the macadamia cheese and mix again by hand to coat all linguine in the cheese mixture.
Serve with the red pepper sauce. For the dinner party, I built the pasta up in a metal ring that I bought from a cook shop and then removed the ring to get a pasta ‘tower’. I then put the sauce in a squeeze bottle and drizzled it over the top. You can also garnish with more chiffonade of basil.