I tried the recipe for roasted garlic, spinach and cashew sauce and immediately fell in love with its flavour and versatility. When you don't know what to serve it with, or what to pair it with, from bread to pasta, meat or fish... This sauce is definitely the solution!
One of the stars of a dinner is the spread board. It must include hummus, cream cheese, various patés and baba ganush . And since I tried the roasted garlic pesto recipe, this sauce has taken pride of place on the board.
As well as being a spread, it has also become a go-to sauce for pasta days . If it is a bit too thick, I add a bit more lemon juice and olive oil, or I thin it out with a bit of the pasta cooking water. It is also a sauce that you can use to liven up a plate of grilled fish or grilled meat. Either way it is very tasty and I am sure it would not be a bad idea to leave a bit of leftover sauce in a ramekin in the middle of the table, to finish the meal by dipping some bread in it.
The combination of all its ingredients is a success, and not only because of its flavour! In addition to the virtues of spinach, this cream also contains those of cashew nuts, which are one of the healthiest nuts and an important source of fatty acids as beneficial for the cardiovascular system as EVOO.
If we add to this that with a food processor like the KitchenAid P2 , it is prepared as easily as a pesto, you will see how you have it ready in no time. So that you can make it and enjoy it, I leave you the recipe and also the video with the step by step.
Ingredients
- 25 g fresh basil leaves
- 1 head of garlic
- 200 g raw cashews
- 100 g fresh baby spinach
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 60 ml of EVOO
Preparation
- The first thing to do is roast the garlic. You can see how to do it here (it's really easy, you basically have to bake the garlic, in a mini cocotte or wrapped in cling film, in the oven at 190°C for about 35-40 minutes). Once roasted and soft, let them cool. (If you had the roasted garlic prepared in advance, take them out of the fridge and let all the oil drain out at room temperature).
- Squeeze the roasted garlic cloves to extract the paste from each one and place that paste in the bowl of the KitchenAid food processor , along with half of the cashews. Process on low power to lightly chop the cashews into large pieces.
- Add the spinach and process again on low power until the spinach is finely chopped. Use a spatula to scrape the ingredients down the sides of the processor bowl.
- Place the basil in the bowl and chop at low power until you see that a paste begins to form with the ingredients of the mixture.
- Without increasing the speed of the processor, add the lemon juice and salt through the 2-in-1 tube. Then, pour in the EVOO in a trickle, little by little. Blend until all the ingredients are well mixed and the texture is homogeneous.
- Finally, add the remaining cashews and pulse 4 or 5 times until they are coarsely chopped and the sauce has a thicker texture.
- Pour the cream into a bowl and serve with some crudités of vegetables, some regañás or some slices of toasted bread.
Grades
- If you have used previously made roasted garlic that you preserved in oil, you can use that oil in this recipe. The sauce will taste amazing.
- As I always say, feel free to adapt the recipe to your tastes, make changes and try other ingredients. The original recipe is not untouchable, make it your own!
