Creamy yellow squash pasta comes together with just eight ingredients beyond pantry basics. A caramelized onion and sliced squash mixture is blended with cashew cream for a rich dairy-free sauce that clings to every noodle. Ready in about 1 hour, most of your cooking time is hands-off while the vegetables slowly caramelize on the stove. This vegan pasta is simple enough for a weeknight, but it also feels a bit special too.
This yellow squash pasta started with an appreciation for the underrated summer squash! I love how sweet it is and wanted to make it the star of the show. If your counter/garden is piling up with squash and zucchini this time of year, this is the one for you.
It comes together easily enough on a weeknight, but there’s something a little bit date-night about this dinner as well. I finish our bowls with a lot of freshly ground black pepper. Combined with the luxuriously rich sauce, this gives it a slight cacio e pepe kinda feel. Round the meal out with my shaved fennel arugula salad or a simple tomato salad, and dinner is sorted.
Caramelizing the onion and squash together is what makes this pasta with yellow squash sing. Take your time! The onion goes in first and cooks low and slow until it shrinks down and turns a light gold color, about 20 minutes. The yellow squash and sliced garlic join next. Everything eventually turns jammy and golden brown. Time is truly the main ingredient in this minimal pasta! The starchy pasta water also plays a key role in loosening up the sauce to the perfect silky texture.
Miso is bringing the savory-salty flavor here instead of the usual nutritional yeast or vegan parmesan. In my opinion, white miso has a cleaner, more balanced flavor that doesn’t compete with the squash or fresh basil.
Creamy Caramelized Onion & Yellow Squash Pasta (Vegan)
Ingredients
- ⅓ cup raw cashews, soaked for at least 2 hours and drained
- 1 cup water
- 1 tablespoon white miso
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 medium Vidalia onion, sliced
- 3 medium yellow squash (465 grams), sliced
- 1 clove garlic, sliced
- salt and pepper, to taste
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- ½ cup fresh basil leaves, torn or chopped
- 454 grams (1 lb) dried pasta
- 1 cup reserved pasta cooking water (you won’t need all of it)
Equipment
- Blender
Notes
- I love using a Vidalia onion for caramelized onions when they’re available. Extra sweet! With that said, you could substitute with a large yellow cooking onion.
- I used casarecce for my pasta here. Penne or regular spaghetti would also be nice!
- If you forgot to soak cashews (or you’re just feeling a little lazy—I get it!), I recommend using 1 ½ cups rich unsweetened plant-based milk or creamer. Just quickly blend it with the miso, and then add the caramelized onions and yellow squash when they’re done.
Instructions
Make the cashew cream.
- In an upright blender, combine the drained cashews, water, and miso. Blend on high until completely smooth. Set aside, keeping the cream in the blender.
Cook the caramelized onions and yellow squash.
- Place a large skillet over medium heat. Once hot, pour in the olive oil. Add the sliced onions and stir. Lower the heat to medium-low and keep cooking until the onions have shrunk down considerably and are starting to take on a light golden hue, about 20 minutes. Stir often.
- Then, add the yellow squash and stir. Bring the heat up to just under medium. Season liberally with salt and pepper. Continue cooking the onions and yellow squash, stirring often, until both are jammy, light golden brown, and nicely caramelized, about 30 minutes. If the pan is drying up and vegetables are browning too fast, add splashes of water.
- Add the caramelized onions and yellow squash to the blender with the cashew cream that you made earlier. Add the lemon juice as well. Blend this mixture on high until completely smooth. Check the sauce base for seasoning and add more salt and pepper if you like.
Cook pasta and assemble.
- Cook the pasta according to package directions in salted boiling water. Before draining, reserve 1 cup of the pasta cooking water.
- Return the large skillet to the stove over medium heat. Pour in the blended caramelized onion and yellow squash sauce and add the cooked pasta. Stir to combine, adding more pasta water if necessary to loosen the mixture up.
- Stir in the basil leaves and serve immediately! I like to finish this with lots of black pepper.
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