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Monday, December 22, 2008

Recipe of the Week: Almost Nutless Alfredo Sauce

After all the talk about Irish moss, I was curious to play around with this 'miracle food' and see for myself. The first time I used it, I didn't realize how much the moss expands once soaked and ended up with a gigantic amount. But no worries; Heathy and I did manage to use it in all sorts of recipes: chocolate mousse, Creme Caramel, Tiramisu and even some savory dishes such as the Silken Tofu from Matthew Kenney's Everyday Raw and Elaina Love's Mashed No-tatoes. However, I learned the hard way that Irish moss is very finicky. Rinse it in too warm water or soak it for too long and it looses some of its gelatinous quality. As a result, the texture of the dishes wasn't quite right. Ah well... Guess it will take some practice. Lesson learned; I sure will be more careful to soak a small amount at a time in the future, just in case I don't do it right.

That being said, something positive did come out of this mishap. The too-runny mashed potatoes gave me the idea to create the following pasta sauce. Unlike most raw sauce recipes which are primarily nut-based, it calls for only 1/4 cup of cashews or macadamias. Light and cheezy!


Almost Nutless Alfredo Sauce

Serves 4-6

1 cup jicama, peeled and cubed
1/4 cup macadamia nuts or cashews
2 tbs Irish moss gel (see recipe below)
1 tbs lemon juice
1 tbs olive oil
1 tbs light miso
1 tbs nutritional yeast
1 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
Dash nutmeg
Water (optional)

Blend all ingredients into high speed blender. If necessary, add water until desired consistency is reached.

Serve on a bed of zucchini pasta.


To make Irish Moss GEL
As described by Elaina Love

¼ cup soaked, packed Irish Moss (moss should be soaked about 3 hours at room
temperature or in the refrigerator then rinsed well).
1 cup filtered water

1. Blend on high until smooth and creamy. No lumps!
2. Store the paste in the refrigerator in a glass jar for up to 10 days and use in ice creams,
gravy, veggie loaf, potatoes and more.


I made the dish into a casserole, topping the pasta and sauce with marinated mushrooms and popping it in the D for an hour or so.


Enjoy!
at

9 comments:

  1. KombuchachicDecember 24, 2008 at 12:22 PM

    That looks absolutely decadent! I have got to try it! Thanks for the recipe!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Marie Madeleine CarmellaDecember 24, 2008 at 4:36 PM

    It occurred to me that I forgot to include Irish moss to the list of ingredients! Duh! I've now changed the post so it's all good.

    *crossing fingers so that no one has already made it*

    ReplyDelete
  3. eat2evolveDecember 27, 2008 at 10:59 AM

    Carmella, This looks yummy and I love the idea of using less nuts, as nuts can be so "dense." Can you suggest a sub for the jicama? I don't recall seeing that around where I live and have never used it... is it like parsnip at all?
    Diana

    ReplyDelete
  4. eat2evolveDecember 27, 2008 at 11:00 AM

    Carmella, This looks yummy and I love the idea of using less nuts, as nuts can be so "dense." Can you suggest a sub for the jicama? I don't recall seeing that around where I live and have never used it... is it like parsnip at all?
    Diana

    ReplyDelete
  5. AnonymousDecember 30, 2008 at 3:59 PM

    this is such a cool recipe. i recently discovered jicama but haven't tried it out yet. i will definitely be making this!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Marie Madeleine CarmellaJanuary 1, 2009 at 6:41 PM

    eat2evolve,

    Have you tried Asian markets? Hum, jicama has a rather unusual texture/flavor and isn't easy to replace, not like parsnip at all. In sweet recipes, I recommend subbing with Asian pear as it has a similar crunchiness. Not sure though about savory... Perhaps you could just add more cashews or macs? Not as 'nutless' but hey...

    ReplyDelete
  7. Lorena BullJanuary 11, 2009 at 7:53 PM

    Hi Carmella!

    I'm just now soaking my first ever batch of irish moss to use in Matthew Kenney's Tofu recipe.
    Do you recommend using the irish moss gel or the gum for the tofu?

    Congrats on your recent awards!
    Thank you,
    Lorena~
    RawDietitian@Gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  8. Marie Madeleine CarmellaJanuary 12, 2009 at 2:12 PM

    Lorena,

    Not sure if I'm too late... I used whatever ratio Matthew gave in his book, in the little note explaining what carragenan is.

    Hope the recipe turns out well!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Lorena BullJanuary 12, 2009 at 8:16 PM

    Hi Carmella,

    Thank you for the quick response. The problem is he doesn't give a ratio in the note about carragenan. He just mentions how it's made from the irish moss, but not amounts...I'll probably make a batch of gel and a batch of gum and try both to see which works best!

    Thank you!
    Lorena~

    ReplyDelete