Turkey Zucchini Alfredo Pasta

 I'm always looking for new ways to make non-dairy versions of classics. Today's research lead me to a vegan alfredo recipe. Some of the directions were a little suspect for how I know these ingredients to behave, so this is my take on it. I'm pairing my version with some ingredients that were bouncing around my brain (and my vegetable drawer.) 

Turkey Zucchini Alfredo Pasta

Ingredients: 

For the sauce

• 1 tbsp flour
• 1 tbsp plant based butter
• 1-2 cups chicken broth 
• 1/2 can coconut milk or cream
• 1 tbsp nutritional yeast (optional - makes it a little cheesy without the dairy or non cheese melting issues)
• 1 tsp liquid smoke (optional - gives the cheesiness a hint of smoked gouda) 

For the rest

• pasta (I used rigatoni) - about half the box, scale as needed
• drizzle of olive oil
• 1 shallot, thinly sliced 
• 1-4 cloves of garlic, crushed and minced
• 1 pound ground turkey
• dried or fresh thyme, to taste
• 2 zucchini, grated 
• salt to taste

Directions:

If you're really doing good, you can do all three of these at the same time and get them on the table faster. 

1. In a pot, boil water and cook pasta according to package directions. 
2. In a pan, make a roux using the flour or tapioca starch and the plant-based butter. Use coconut cream or milk and water or chicken broth to get a runnier pasta sauce consistency. Mix in the milk and broth alternatingly a little at a time so that it has a chance to smooth out and you can stop before it is too runny. When basically done, add nutritional yeast and liquid smoke and stir well. 
3. In another larger pan, heat a drizzle of olive oil. Add onions and garlic and cook on medium or medium low for a few minutes. Add the ground turkey and cook, breaking it up as you go.  Add thyme. Add zucchini. 
4. Finally, drain pasta and combine all three pans into one large serving bowl. You may want to spoon the turkey mix out of it's pan if the zucchini sweated and there is a lot of liquid in the pan. Toss to combine and serve!