Homemade Vegan Beet Fettucini with Cashew "Alfredo" and Peas

I felt like I had to redeem myself after my last post of the quick and easy Mediterranean Pasta Dish, so here you have it...Homemade Vegan Beet Fettuccine!  Don't be scared...it is actually not all that difficult to make your own pasta, just make sure you have a good amount of time to do it.  And yes, it may be timely, but is also quite therapeutic!

 I have been waiting to make pasta until I bought some of the attachments for my mixer, but just said screw it...I can do this without that fancy shmancy stuff.  And, guess what?  You really do not need all those fancy pasta roller machines or pasta drying racks  You can literally do everything by hand and improvise.  It is all very doable! 

If you have some pasta making appliances and So lets call this my DIY pasta making trial!  So, what do you need?  A large cutting board or surface, a rolling pin, pizza cutter (to cut pasta), a dish drying rack (to hang noodles on) and 2 pots (to prop up drying rack).





 So, why go through all this work to make pasta?  The answer is simple:  Fresh homemade pasta is always better than that boxed crap.  It is lighter, is completely fresh and you actually don't feel heavy and full afterwards.  And best of all, it will always taste better!

Homemade Vegan Beet Fettucini with Cashew "Alfredo" and Peas

for the dough:
1 large beet
2 tsp evoo
2-2.5 c flour, plus extra for when rolling
1/2 c water
1 tsp salt

for the sauce
1 c raw cashews soaked at least 2 hrs
3/4 c unsweetened original almond milk
1/4 c nutritional yeast
1/2 lemon juiced
1 cup frozen peas, thawed
s+p

Directions:
preheat oven 425.  Lightly brush beet with evoo and wrap in foil.  Bake for about 1 hour or until a knife can pierce the beet easily.
Once done, peel the beet by just wiping with a paper towel.  Cut into pieces and blend in food processor or blender until pureed.  Add a touch of evoo to make more smooth while blending, set aside.
In a mixing bowl, add in flour and water and mix and knead with hands.  Add in pureed beets and continue to mix thoroughly.  Add in more flour if the dough seems too wet.  I should not be wet at all.  Continue to knead with hands for about 10 minutes.  Form into ball over cover with plastic wrap.  Allow to sit for about 15-20 minutes.

In meantime, make your sauce.  Take your soaked cashews and almond milk and blend until completely smooth.  Transfer to sauce pan, and turn to med-low,  Stir in nutritional yeast, lemon juice and seasoning.  If the sauce seems too thick, add in more almond milk.  Once desired consistency, stir in peas, turn off and reheat later.

At this point, your dough is ready to be worked with.  Break apart into thirds and roll out each third on a floured surface.  Try to make the dough just about as thin as you can get it without tearing.  With your pizza cutter, cut into long noodles.  Hang each noodle on your DIY drying rack.  Complete process until all the noodles are cut and are hanging.  Allow to hang dry for about 10 minutes.

Cook noodles in salted, boiling water for about 4 minutes.  Strain and serve with sauce!