pasta with creamy cashew sauce

Some would call this "vegan macaroni and cheese" but the word vegan will turn most people off immediately, thus the more descriptive title is being employed here.

1 pound dried small spiral pasta
par boil the pasta till it is 60% cooked, drain well. Do this at the very end, just before you put the pasta in the oven. General rule is never let pasta wait for its sauce or its dish to continue.

in a blender, place 1 cup raw cashews and 2 cups cold water. Blend till very smooth, set aside. You have to use raw cashews for this and for all my cashew cream recipes! Roasted or salted will effect your dish in a very bad way.

heat up a frying pan and chop the following:
1 leek
1 onion
6 cloves garlic
1 carrot
handful of parsley

if it were summer, i would add some fresh peas and chopped peppers but i am typing this in February so those are way out of season.

Add the onions and leeks to 3 tbsp of olive oil and 1 and 1/2 tsp sea salt in the pan and cook over medium-low heat, covered for 10 minutes. add rest of vegetables, cover and cook 3 more minutes.
Add:
2 tbsp thyme
1 tbsp yellow mustard powder
1 tbsp smoked paprika
1 cup dry white wine to the hot pan, deglazing it in the process, cover and let cook for 2 minutes.

in a large bowl mix together the cooked vegetables, the blended cashew cream and the cooked pasta. Add 1/3 cup nutritional yeast, 1 tsp freshly cracked black pepper and 1 cup water.
Place in a baking tray, cover and bake at 350 for half hour.