creamy, lemony pasta sauce

I had some leftover pasta dough yesterday, along with fingerling potatoes and sugar snap peas from my vegetable box, and I thought that together they would make a nice dinner for me and Rachael. But what would be a good sauce to tie it together? Back when I was a cream-eater, I made a lemon sauce from The Classic Pasta Cookbook--just boil lemon juice and zest with some butter and cream till it's reduced by half. I decided to veganize it by using almond cream. I could make the cream as thick as I liked, so I wouldn't even have to reduce it!

I cooked a pound of halved fingerling potatoes cut-side down in olive oil in a wide, covered pan over medium-low heat till they were tender, then turned the heat up to medium so they'd get a little brown. Then when the noodles (the equivalent of one pound of dried pasta) were done, I added them to the potatoes along with 8oz of trimmed sugar snaps. I stirred in the sauce, let everything heat up, then added a handful of chopped parsley. This sauce would be good with any spring vegetable: I plan to try it soon with asparagus or artichoke hearts.

Creamy Lemon Sauce

makes about 2 cups, enough for 1lb pasta

1/2C blanched almonds
juice and zest of a lemon (organic, please, as you're eating the zest!)
salt and pepper

A few hours before dinner, pour enough boiling water over the almonds to make a total of 1 3/4C. Let soak. Shortly before dinner, whiz it your blender till it's really, really smooth. Stir in remaining ingredients.