Raw Vegan Sunflower Cheese Spaghetti (Low Carb, Gluten Free, & Dairy Free)

This quick and easy recipe for sunflower seed cheesy spaghetti uses courgette (zucchini) to make courgetti. The creamy seed-based sauce makes a filling low-carb and dairy-free meal. Suitable for raw vegan, gluten-free, nut-free and paleo diets.

If you are following a vegan diet then look out for nutritional yeast that is fortified with B12 as this can be difficult have sufficient amounts without supplementation.

Nutritional yeast has an unfortunate name and look, but really does help give a cheesy nutty taste to dishes.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup / 140g Sunflower seeds
• 3 Courgette/Zucchini
• 3 tbsp Nutritional yeast
• 1 Garlic clove
• 3 tbsp Sesame seeds
• ¼ tsp Turmeric
• 1 tbsp Apple cider vinegar
• 2 pinches of Salt
• Water for soaking and blending
• 6 Cherry tomatoes
• 12 Basil leaves

Instructions:

1. Soak the sunflower seeds in a pinch of salt for an hour or overnight.
2. Drain the sunflower seed and then add to a blender with the nutritional yeast, garlic, sesame, vinegar and turmeric.
3. Add just enough water to help your blender whizz up into a smooth paste.
4. Spiralize your courgette/zucchini using a spiralizer or if you don’t have one try a julienne slicer or vegetable pealer to make thin strips.
5. Massage in a pinch of salt into the courgette until it goes down in volume by about a third and releases it’s juices.
6. Stir in the sunflower seed cheese and enjoy.
7. Store any left-overs in the fridge and eat within 48 hours.

NOTES:

• The basil and tomatoes that the dish is topped with are totally optional – they work well but use what you have about. This dish also works really well with olives, sweet peppers and avocado.
• This recipe calls for the sunflower seeds to be soaked in order to start them sprouting. This is sometimes called activating and makes the nutrients more bioavailable. I always try to soak my seeds and even if I’m in a hurry a 15-minute soak is still better than not soaking at all.
• A spiralizer is the best way to quickly make oodles of veggie noodles. They are wildly available in kitchen and health food shops in the UK. If you don’t have one then try using a vegetable julienne slicer or a veggie peeler to make thin ribbons.
• When you massage the noodles they do let out a fair bit of water. I left all of this in as to not extract any goodness and it helps to coat all of the courgetti in the creamy sunflower seed sauce.