Beet Noodle Pumpkin Alfredo with Spiced Pecans

Beet Noodle Pumpkin Alfredo with Spiced Pecans

My spiced pecans are making a comeback! If you remember, I made a pear noodle...

Beet Noodle Pumpkin Alfredo with Spiced Pecans

My spiced pecans are making a comeback! If you remember, I made a pear noodle salad with spiced pecans a few months ago.

My favorite part of that salad are the crunchy pecans. So, I thought – why not use them in a pasta dish?

Hence, the spiced pecan comeback.

Beet Noodle Pumpkin Alfredo with Spiced Pecans

Last night, I went to a restaurant in the city and ate way too much food that I knew had a lot of butter on it. The butter taste is so distinct, you almost have to shrug your shoulders when you take a bite – you know you’re eating a stick of butter. But it makes the food taste so good!

This vegan pumpkin alfredo tastes like it’s made with the “bad” stuff – cream, butter and Parmesan cheese. The nutritional yeast flakes add a velvety cheesiness, while the slight pumpkin flavor creates a warm, deep flavor that brings out the sweetness in the pecans and beets.

Beet Noodle Pumpkin Alfredo with Spiced Pecans

Not only is this dish healthy – it’s colorful! The red color in the beets doesn’t bleed as much once the beets are roasted.

Actually, I get a lot of questions from readers saying, “I’m afraid to spiralize beets – will it stain my spiralizer?!” First off, it definitely will not – just make sure you immediately wash the spiralizer after using it with beets.

Beet Noodle Pumpkin Alfredo with Spiced Pecans

Also, do you not wear a new pair of shoes outside because you’re afraid you’ll dirty them? The spiralizer is meant to be used to make noodles out of veggies, so don’t be afraid! Beets are one of my favorite types of veggie noodles – definitely top 3!

My top 3 favorite veggies to spiralize:

1. Zucchini
2. Sweet potato
3. Beet

What are your favorite veggies to spiralize?

Nutritional Information & Recipe

Inspiralized

Beet Noodle Pumpkin Alfredo with Spiced Pecans

Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 40 minutes
Servings 4 -6

Ingredients

  • For the spiced pecans:
  • ½ cup whole pecans
  • 1 tablespoon maple syrup
  • ¼ teaspoon cinnamon
  • ¼ teaspoon cayenne
  • salt to taste
  • For the alfredo pasta:
  • 4 beets peeled, Blade C, noodles trimmed
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • ½ tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
  • 4 sage leaves
  • Pinch of red pepper flakes
  • ¼ cup diced shallots
  • 2 garlic cloves minced
  • ½ cup pumpkin puree
  • ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1 pinch of nutmeg to taste
  • ½ cup raw cashews soaked for at least 2 hours and then drained
  • ½ - 1 tablespoon nutritional yeast
  • ½ cup low-sodium vegetable broth + more for thinning as needed
  • freshly minced parsley to garnish

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. In a bowl, whisk together the maple syrup with the cinnamon, cayenne and season lightly with salt. It should create a paste. Add the pecans into the mixture. Stir to combine thoroughly.
  • Take out two baking sheets and line both with parchment paper. On one, lay the dressed pecans out on a parchment paper lined baking tray and bake for 5 minutes, flip over and bake another 5 minutes. Remove from the oven and set aside. Let the pecans cool for at least 5 minutes before you use them in the rest of the recipe (they will become less sticky the longer they sit.)
  • Five minutes after the pecans are in the oven, lay out the beet noodles on the other lined baking sheet. Coat with cooking spray and season with salt and pepper. Bake for 5-10 minutes (I kept mine in for 7) or until your desired al dente consistency.
  • After both the pecans and beets are in the oven, place a large skillet over medium heat and add in the olive oil. Once oil heats, add in the sage and cook until crispy. Remove with a slotted spoon and transfer to a small, paper-towel lined plate.
  • Place the red pepper flakes and shallots and garlic immediately into the skillet and cook for 2-3 minutes or until translucent, stirring constantly to avoid burning. Then, add in pumpkin puree, season with salt, pepper, nutmeg, cinnamon and crumble in the sage. Let cook for 1-2 minutes for flavors to develop, again stirring constantly.
  • In a high-speed blender, combine the pumpkin mixture, cashews, nutritional yeast (start with ½ tablespoon and add more to your preference) and vegetable broth. Pulse until creamy and add more vegetable broth, if needed. Taste and adjust (not cheesy enough? More nutritional yeast? Not salty enough? More salt.)
  • Divide the beet noodles into bowls and top with a scoop of the pumpkin alfredo sauce (about 1/3 – ½ cup). Top with parsley and pecans.
with love, Ali

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Recipe Rating




comments

  • Cant wait to try this!
  • Looks yummy! So colorful. Got to pick up a couple ingredients, then I will give it a go!
  • I would also enjoy a Friday Feature as well!
  • Awesome!
  • This looks delicious!!
  • Will try soon!
  • So intrigued by this dish...looks delish! I'm such a beet lover...never used nutritional yeast, so can't wait to try this!
  • I made this four lunch today, it was super yummy! Thank you for sharing your this awesome recipe!
  • What does the nutritional yeast do? Is it necessary?
    • Heather - it adds a nice cheesy-like taste for those who can't/don't eat dairy! It's not 100% necessary, but it definitely adds to the flavor and overall taste.
    • Just a note: Nutritional yeast is deactivated, so most people who cannot have yeast can still have nutritional yeast. In addition to being deactivated, it is not a Candida species (it's Saccharomyces cerevisiae, not even in the same genus), and those are the ones a Candida diet are watching out for.
  • This was very tasty, although mine was not nearly as pretty because I mixed everything together before serving, plus half of my beets were golden. I added a little goat cheese (about an ounce) because I had put in too much cayenne and needed something to balance it out. 425 degrees was way too hot for when I cooked it. 6 minutes with the nuts got them totally scorched, so I used 350 for the whole thing and the times were about the same as those suggested on here.
  • Yummy recipe! Have to agree with another reviewer on the oven temp for roasting the pecans as I scorched the first batch, too. 350 degrees for 8 minutes did the trick for the second round of pecans. As a lazy but fairly honest cook, I'll admit that I did not neatly lay out the pecans after tossing with the spiced maple paste but simply dumped 'em all onto the roasting sheet and spread around with a wooden spoon (did the same for flip time too, just scrambled the pecans around). At our final taste test, my daughter & I decided to add more pumpkin purée, cashews and nutritional yeast along with fresh chopped savory and basil. Basically quadrupled these three ingredients while double-batching the rest and were delighted with the results. My vegetarian daughter says the nutritional yeast is not optional, ya gotta have it! We stuck straight to the recipe until that final tasting before tweaking to our tastebuds so as to be able to give our best review. Mighty fine eating and thanks so much for a fabulous recipe!
  • I love this recipe! I made it on Sunday and have been bringing leftovers to work this week. I almost skipped over it because I wasn't sure how pumpkin would taste as a savory alfredo dish (Clearly, I know nothing!). I would love it if the website had a rating system so I don't skip over delicious recipes like this one.
    • Hi, Kim! We're so glad you gave this one a try!!! And great suggestion. We appreciate it!