This dip is a highly seasoned Alfredo. Totally Italian in flavor. It is surrounded with spicy dehydrated bell pepper and zucchini chips. Great with bubbly Kombucha.

Italians initially shunned Alfredo Sauce. And why is that? Because nobody was interested in eating buttered noodles as they put it.

Alfredo first made the sauce for his pregnant wife. It seemed that noodles mixed with this white sauce full of butter and mixed with parmesan cheese, was the only food she could keep down. Since Alfredo owned a restaurant in Rome and was the chef, he continued making and serving the sauce ever after. This all began in 1908.

The craze for alfredo sauce began in America just as soon as Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks returned from their honeymoon in Italy. They just happened to eat at Alfredo’s restaurant, fell in love with the stuff, and brought the recipe back to Hollywood with them. Celebrities began flocking to Alfredo’s and it soon became quite the tourist attraction.

Since then, Americans have modified the original recipe so much that anything white that is poured over pasta is called ‘alfredo’ sauce.

My tribute is a raw version made with cashews and Italian seasonings. I achieve that ‘cheesy’ taste of parmesan with nutritional yeast. Combined

with zucchini, this makes a scrumptious appetizer.

Alfredo Zucchini Dip

Ingredients:

2 cups raw cashews (soaked for 4 hours in filtered water)
3 tbsp. lemon juice
¾ tsp. onion powder
¾ tsp. garlic powder
1/8 tsp. black pepper
¼ tsp. Himalayan sea salt
½ cup nutritional yeast
¼ cup finely chopped fresh basil
2 tbsp. red bell pepper (chopped finely)
½ cup almond milk
1 medium to large sized zucchini

Directions:

Place the cashews, lemon juice, onion powder, garlic powder, salt, nutritional yeast, black pepper, and almond milk into a Vita Mix and blend until creamy smooth. Place the mixture into a medium sized bowl. Add the basil and bell pepper to the bowl and hand mix it in. Spiralize the zucchini with a spiral cutter. Cut 1/2 cup into pieces and add it to the bowl. Hand mix it in. Place this into the refrigerator until the zucchini and bell peppers  are 4 hours away from being completely dehydrated.

Bell Pepper Zucchini Chips

Ingredients:

5 Large Zucchini
1 medium red bell pepper
2 Tbsp. basil flakes
1/4 tsp. onion powder
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
1/8 tsp. red pepper
1/2 cup nutritional yeast
1 Tbsp. olive oil

Directions:

Spiralize the zucchini with a spiral cutter. Using a benriner(mandolin) slicer, slice the red bell pepper horizontally into rings. Place the vegetables in  a large bowl and sprinkle the olive oil on them. Hand mix them so that the vegetables are coated with the oil. Sprinkle the seasonings on top and mix them in by hand. Place them on an Excalibur dehydrator tray with a teflex sheet. Dehydrate at 145 degrees for 1 hour. Remove the chips from the dehydrator and flip them over and continue dehydrating at 115 degrees for 8 to 10 hours. Six hours into the dehydration, take the dip out of the refrigerator, keep it in it’s bowl and place it in the dehydrator along with the chips. Check the dip after 2 hours dehydration and stir it around. Finish dehydrating for the remaining time. If the chips are not crispy enough, continue dehydrating until they are. Remove all from the dehydrator. Place the dip into a decorative bowl and put the chips around it.