Zucchini Linguini and Glam Sauce

Yes, I said Glam, not Clam, because this is a very glamorous sauce, and because it is not made with clams. For this recipe, use any kind of fancy mushrooms you like, or just plain old white ones if that's all you can get. I particularly like the addition of the oyster mushrooms, because they have a nice firm texture that's a little bit, well... clam-ish. And if you'd rather not make zucchini noodles, go ahead and boil up some brown rice linguini instead. Enjoy!

Zucchini Linguini and Glam Sauce
vegan, gluten free, oil free
serves 2-4

1 cup raw cashews, soaked 30 minutes or more
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
1 1/2 cups almond milk
8 oz crimini mushrooms, cut into half inch pieces
4 oz fresh oyster mushrooms, cut into half inch pieces
1 oz dry shitake mushrooms, soaked 30 minutes in water, cut into half inch pieces
3 large cloves garlic, chopped
1/4 cup white wine
1/2 cup sun-dried tomatoes, chopped
1 cup fancy olives of your choice, coarsely chopped (I picked an assortment from the olive bar)
1 cup chopped fresh basil
1/2 lemon, juiced
salt and black pepper to taste
2 large zucchini

Drain and rinse the soaked cashews, and place them in a blender or food processor with the nutritional yeast and milk. Blend until very smooth.
Saute the mushrooms and garlic in the wine for about 5 minutes, over medium-high heat, until they start to dry out. Do not add extra liquid.
Remove mushrooms from heat for a few minutes.

Make your zucchini noodles using a spiralizer, mandoline, or vegetable peeler. This should not be done too far ahead, because the noodles will quickly start to "wilt" as they lose water.
Steam the noodles for 1-2 minutes, just to heat them up. (I place them in a large wire strainer, set in the top of a big covered soup pot with about an inch of boiling water in the bottom. See the noodles and steaming method here.)

You can order this dandy spiralizer on Amazon for about $30.

While the noodles steam, place the mushrooms back on the stove, over medium heat, and pour in the cashew sauce.
Add sun-dried tomatoes, olives, and basil, and cook for about 5 minutes, stirring often, and adding more milk, wine, or water if it gets too thick. (This should be a fairly thick sauce though, because it tends to thin a bit when poured over the zucchini noodles.)

Season the sauce with salt and pepper to taste, and squeeze in the lemon juice just before serving.
Place steamed noodles in a shallow bowl, and spoon the sauce over the top. Garnish with a sprig of fresh basil, and maybe a little sprinkle of nutritional yeast and fresh ground black pepper.

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