Healthy White Bean Pasta Sauce

If you told my former self that I would one day be eating a pasta sauce made out of beans I would probably run away. Lol. Jk. BUT, I grew up absolutely hating any and every sort of bean!

Turns out, I love them now. Also turns out, they can add a super creamy texture to sauces once they are pureed. The end result for this dish sort of tastes like alfredo but it's waaaay better for you because even though there's still a decent amount of parmesan cheese in there, there's no heavy cream or dairy besides that. Cannellini beans are full of fiber, folate, iron and magnesium so it's a great way to sneak some good stuff into your diet.

As far as subs, you could replace the parmesan cheese wit nutritional yeast to make it vegan or sub out the wheat pasta for brown rice pasta to make it gluten free!

What you need:

• 1/2 lb pasta (I used mafaldine)
• 12 oz cannellini beans (I used Jovial Foods 100% organic - soaked overnight and pressure cooked)
• 1 large garlic clove (or 2 smaller ones)
• 1/4 cup oat or rice milk
• 3/4 cup parmesan cheese
• 1 tsp fresh cracked black pepper
• 1/4 cup reserved pasta water
  
  

What to do:

1. Cook the pasta according to package instructions in salted boiling water.
2. Blend all the other ingredients in a food processor until smooth. 
3. When the pasta is almost done, scoop out 1/4 cup of the pasta water and add it into the bean sauce.
4. Pour the sauce over the freshly drained pasta, top with more parm and pepper and eat.