Vegan Lemon Florentine Pasta featuring fresh spinach, fresh basil, garlic, white wine and cashew lemon milk to create a delicious and creamy sauce that coats pasta beautifully! This recipe is super healthy, filling and completely oil-free!
*This post is sponsored on behalf of Explore Cuisine. All opinions and text are my own. See my full disclosure policy here.
VEGAN LEMON FLORENTINE PASTA
I’m excited to share a recipe today with you all that is so perfect for summer, while keeping things healthy and fresh, but a filling weeknight dinner. This pasta is inspired by Italian cuisine. Florentine dishes mean that spinach is a main ingredient to the dish. Many Florentine dishes are chicken served on a bed of spinach or pasta dishes. You may have heard of chicken Florentine before. Well, this is my vegan-inspired take on a Florentine pasta.
I wanted it to be fresh and vibrant, so lemon is always a welcome choice. Fresh spinach, fresh basil, with lots of garlic round out the flavors. I created a cashew lemon milk sauce that thickens and gets super creamy to coat the pasta in a magical way.
GLUTEN-FREE PASTA
Y’all know how much I love pasta. We eat it weekly. They are some of my most popular recipes. I’ve worked with Explore Cuisine before and love how they offer several gluten-free pasta varieties. They have different bean pastas like lentils, black bean and even chickpea or brown rice pastas. Today, I’m sharing my recipe using their chickpea fusilli pasta. They asked me to create an Italian-inspired pasta dish and I jumped at the chance.
I eat wheat pasta regularly and absolutely love it. Now, fyi, chickpea pasta does not taste like wheat. So, if you are used to wheat, it is a bit different, but it held onto this delicious sauce beautifully, while keeping its shape, which I really enjoyed. Sometimes gluten-free pastas completely fall apart or get mushy. This is what I like about Explore Cuisine pastas, they never get mushy or fall apart. If you cook them for the recommended time on the box, you are good to go!
Great things about the Explore Cuisine brand:
- healthy gluten-free options
- packed high in protein and fiber
- Many varieties of pasta, including beans, lentils and chickpeas
- organic, non-GMO and vegan
- healthy, fresh and cook fast
- different shapes and styles to suit your individual tastes
HOW TO MAKE VEGAN LEMON FLORENTINE PASTA
First, you will need to gather these 8 ingredients:
- fusilli pasta
- fresh garlic
- onion
- dry white wine (I used a Pinot Grigio)
- spinach
- fresh basil
- cashews
- fresh lemon juice
Begin boiling a large pot of salted water and add the pasta once boiling.
While waiting on the pasta water, make the lemon cashew milk. This will be the main part of the sauce, so you want to make it exactly as written. It will be very watery after blending, but cooking it will cause it to really thicken up and become wonderfully creamy. Store-bought cashew milk will not work here or produce the same result. Store-bought is full of fillers and little cashews, so trying it, you will end up with a bland, gross watery sauce, so you must use the cashew recipe here for it to work.
If you do not own a Vitamix or an equally powerful blender, you must soak the cashews overnight so they become really soft.
To a large, deep pan, add the onion and 1/4 cup water over medium heat. Cook 5-8 minutes until soft. Add the garlic and 2 more tablespoons of water as needed to keep the garlic cooking and not burn. Cook for just about a minute.
Add the wine and cook for about 3 minutes until it has reduced by about half.
Add the cashew lemon milk and spinach and reduce to medium heat. Stir continuously until the spinach has wilted and cooked down and the sauce has thickened into a nice, thick and creamy sauce. This will take about 5 minutes. Top with the fresh basil and Vegan Lemon Parmesan Cheese!
CAN THIS BE MADE NUT-FREE?
If you are allergic to cashews, you can try subbing with raw sunflower seeds. I have not tested this personally, so I’m not sure of how the flavor will taste, but I think with the strong lemon notes, it might be okay. Let me know if you try the sunflower version.
OTHER VEGAN PASTA DISHES TO TRY
- Best Vegan Garlic Alfredo
- Vegan Pimento Cream Sauce
- Vegan Stuffed Ricotta Shells With Spinach
- Vegan Mac ‘N’ Cheese
If you make this recipe, be sure to leave feedback below and share your pic on Instagram or Facebook and tag me @thevegan8 #thevegan8!
Vegan Lemon Florentine Pasta
Ingredients
- 8 oz box Explore Cuisine pasta (I used their chickpea fusilli, use whatever you like or if you can't do chickpeas)
CASHEW LEMON MILK
- 3/4 cup (105g) raw, unsalted cashews + 1 1/2 cups (360g) water (see directions)
- 3 tablespoons (45g) fresh lemon juice
- 1/2 teaspoon fine salt + 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
REMAINING INGREDIENTS
- 1/2 packed cup (70g) finely diced white or yellow onion
- 5 large cloves garlic, minced (15g)
- 3/4 cup (180g) dry white wine (I used Pinot Grigio)
- 5 oz (153g) package fresh spinach, roughly chopped
- 1/4 packed cup (10g) chiffonade basil
NOTE
- Store-bought cashew milk will not work here or produce the same result. Store-bought is full of fillers and little cashews, so trying it, you will end up with a bland, gross watery sauce, so you must use the cashew recipe here for it to work.
Instructions
- If you do not own a Vitamix or an equally powerful blender, you must soak the cashews overnight in a bowl covered with water so they become really soft. Drain and rinse them and proceed. Otherwise, you will end up with a gritty sauce. Using the soaked cashews version, I suggest blending the sauce in a food processor, as opposed to a standard non-powerful blender, as I find sauces get smoother and creamier this way (if not using a Vitamix blender).
- Begin boiling a large pot of salted water and add the pasta once boiling. Cook according to the package.
- While waiting on the pasta water, make the lemon cashew milk. Add the cashews, 1 1/2 cups water, lemon juice, salt and pepper to the blender or if using the soaked cashews, add all to a food processor. Blend until 100% smooth and no bits of nuts remain. It should be very watery, but smooth. Set aside. It will be very watery after blending, but cooking it will cause it to really thicken up and become wonderfully creamy.
- To a large, deep pan, add 1/4 cup water over medium heat. Once simmering, add the onion and cook 5-8 minutes until soft. Add the garlic and 2 more tablespoons of water as needed to keep the garlic cooking and not burn. Cook for just about a minute.
- Add the wine and cook for about 3 minutes until it has reduced by about half.
- Add the cashew lemon milk and spinach and reduce to medium heat. Stir continuously until the spinach has wilted and cooked down and the sauce has thickened into a nice, thickened creamy sauce. This will take about 5 minutes. Cook longer if needed for it to thicken. It should be the consistency of an alfredo, no longer watery, but not overly thick. Remove from the heat. Taste and add more salt, if desired.
- Serve desired amounts of sauce over pasta. To chiffonade basil, stack several large leaves of basil on top of each other. Roll them up into a tight roll. Use a very sharp knife to slice down the roll into thin strips. Sprinkle this basil all over the finished dish just before serving. Adding some freshly ground black pepper is nice too. For additional flavor and lemon boost, add my Lemon Parmesan Cheese!
Notes
Nutrition
Brandi, Brandi, Brandi, u did it again! Another win/win, both Dara (my bride) and I absolutely LOVE this! Made it last night and it’s a keeper! AND it’s EZPZ and (literally) lemon squeezy! 😊
Yayyy thanks so much Mark!
I have beeb making this recipe since it first came out and my whole family really enjoys it! I typically follow recipes exactly because I am not a chef, but tonight I wanted to double the recipe so we had leftovers and couldn’t bring myself to use double the cashews so I used white beans for half. I did not notice the difference and neither did anyone else! This is such an easy easy and flavorful recipe and I highly recommend it
Been not beeb! I really should proofread!
Hi Amy! That is wonderful! Funny you mention that because anytime somebody asks me to sub cashews with white beans, I always say not to do more than half because you can still get away with the texture being amazing. I’ve found doing more than half though ends up giving a mealy texture and loses its richness.
My family loves this! Instead of cashews I used 1 can of chickpeas (with the brine) + 2 Tbsp of cornstarch. It came out so thick and delicious!
So happy you loved it!!
I made this yesterday! Delicious!
This was so good! Next time I may add a couple tsp of vegetable or vegan chicken bullion to the cashew lemon cream sauce for additional flavor but seriously good AS IS!! I added good earth vegan chicken (seasoned and browned), peas and broccoli too. Thank you for the epic recipe!
This recipe is absolute gold! I had saved it months ago, and finally made it for the first time after putting my Pinterest board in front of my son in law (not a vegan), who chose it. This will now be on my favorites list-it was perfect…I didn’t need to make any changes or substitutions. Thank you!
That makes me so happy to hear!
My whole family loves this recipe! We double it to feed all 8 of us. I replaced the wine with broth. I highly recommend!
There are not enough adjectives to describe how absolutely amazing this pasta was. Restaurant quality delicious for sure. If you’re a lover of all things lemon like me then this one is a must try!!
Great recipe. I love it as is, but will make it again, maybe using a little bit of olive oil. I may add peas and/or asparagus to the mix next time. Thanks for the yummy eats!
So happy you enjoyed it! Thank you Suzanne!
Worthy of being on the menu at a fancy restaurant. Love it Brandi
Y’all this is it right here! The yummiest pasta ever! This will definitely be in the regular rotation. Can always count on a simple and delicious recipe from you Brandi! Thank you!
I’ve been looking for a recipe just like this… Is this at all similar to the gardein chicken Florentino pasta?
Hi Annie, I’ve never tried that brand so I don’t know, but you could always add the gardein chicken to it.
Oh my goodness! Surprised my boyfriend and made this for dinner tonight. Neither one of us are vegan. It was spectacular!!
I used linguine because that’s what I had on hand. And I’m a garlic and citrus junkie so I automatically double these in any recipe. For the lemon juice I replaced a 1/4 c of the water with it. Perfection!
Can’t wait to make it for my mother, who refuses to cook healthy and thinks everything has to be drowning in butter and creme to be good lol.
Delicious! You’d never know this wasn’t made with cream/milk. I’ll definitely be making again.
This was so so delicious! I haven’t stopped thinking about it. I’m back to make it again! <3
Aww, that is wonderful to hear Maggie, thank you so much!
This was FANTASTIC! I love lemon and it was the perfect level of tanginess. Thank you so much for this wonderful recipe.
Yay, really happy to hear you loved it so much Maggie!
Made this tonight for supper, super yummy. I love the flavor the lemon adds to the sauce, even my non vegan family loved it. Thanks for a great recipe 😊