Preheat oven to gas 5 / 190C / 375°F and grease a 9"x 9" overproof dish
Put the cashews in a bowl and cover with boiling water. Set aside
Put the potatoes, onion and carrots in a large saucepan and cover with cold water
Being to the boil and cook for 15 minutes or until the veg is cooked through
Drain the cooking water off into a jug or bowl. You'll need it in a minute
Put the cooked veggies into a blender with 480mls (2 cups) of the reserved cooking water, the sunflower spread, nutritional yeast, lemon juice, mustard, paprika & cayenne. Also drain the cashews and put them in the blender too
Puree until smooth then season to taste with salt & pepper and blitz again to incorporate
Boil the pasta in heavily salted water for 8 minutes so it's just undercooked
Drain the pasta then gently stir in half of the sauce mixture
Pour into the ovenproof dish and top with the breadcrumbs. Spray the top with some butter-flavoured spray oil such as the Flora 1 calorie spray
Bake for 30 - 35 minutes then put under the grill for a minute to brown the top
The other half of the sauce you can freeze for another time but it will keep well covered in the fridge for up to a week. We actually use it as a nacho dip. I blitz it with a hand blender and reheat it in the microwave with some finely chopped jalepenos and a pinch garlic powder
You can use roasted aubergine / eggplant in place of the cashew nuts. Simply slice the aubergine into discs, salt each side then weight down so the salt can draw out the bitter liquid inside. Rinse, pat dry, spray with oil and grill/broil them for a few minutes on each side until cooked through. Peel the skin off before adding to the blender with the other ingredients
