Half Baked Harvest has long been one of the most drool-worthy blogs on the internet, and Tieghan Gerard’s long-awaited first cookbook, Half Baked Harvest Cookbook: Recipes From My Barn in the Mountains, carries on that same tradition with stunning aplomb. It’s bursting with colors, exciting but accessible flavor combinations, and just-this-side of healthy recipes that are still completely crave-worthy. This genius twist on Alfredo subs the classic cream sauce for a surprising ingredient: chickpeas. Say what? “Combining hummus with a little of the pasta cooking water creates the creamiest, most scrumptious, and truly alfredo-like-tasting sauce ever, and yet there is zero cream,” explains Tieghan. You can also easily make it vegan. “Just omit the butter and use an equal amount of extra-virgin olive oil, then omit the Parmesan and use and equal amount of nutritional yeast,” says Tieghan. Voilà! Your new favorite dinner is served.
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No-Guilt Broccoli Fettuccine Alfredo
Ingredients
- 2 small heads broccoli, cut into florets
- ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
- ½ teaspoon cayenne
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
- 1 pound fettuccine pasta
- 1 cup plain hummus
- Zest and juice of 1 lemon
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter (sub olive oil for vegan version)
- ¾ cup grated Parmesan cheese, plus more for serving (sub nutritional yeast for vegan version)
- ¼ cup chopped fresh basil, plus more for serving
- Fresh parsley, plus more for serving
- Pinch of crushed red-pepper flakes
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Method
- Preheat the oven to 450ºF.
- On a rimmed baking sheet, toss the broccoli with the olive oil, cayenne, garlic powder, and a big pinch each of salt and black pepper. Roast for 15 to 20 minutes, tossing once, until lightly charred.
- Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the pasta and cook until al dente according to the package directions. Reserve 1 cup of the pasta cooking water, then drain the pasta and immediately return it to the pot. Add the hummus, about ½ cup of the pasta cooking water, the lemon zest, lemon juice, butter, and Parmesan. Toss until a creamy sauce forms. Thin the sauce with more pasta cooking water, a little at a time, as needed. Add the basil, parsley, and red pepper flakes. Taste and season as needed with salt and black pepper.
- Add the broccoli to the pasta and toss gently. Serve immediately with extra Parmesan and fresh basil and/or parsley on top.
Based on excerpts from Half Baked Harvest Cookbook: Recipes from My Barn in the Mountains by Tieghan Gerard, with the permission of Clarkson Potter, a division of Penguin Random House. Copyright © 2017.
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Liz Moody is an author, blogger and recipe developer living in Brooklyn, New York. She graduated with a creative writing and psychology degree from The University of California, Berkeley. Moody has written two cookbooks: Healthier Together: Recipes for Two—Nourish Your Body, Nourish Your Relationships and Glow Pops: Super-Easy Superfood Recipes to Help You Look and Feel Your Best. She also hosts the Healthier Together Podcast, where she chats with notable chefs, nutritionists, and best-selling authors about their paths to success. Her work has been featured in Vogue, Glamour, Food & Wine & Women’s Health.