VeganMoFo: Spaghetti, Tunisian-Style

Last night's dinner was wonderful! I got to open up my Classic Vegetarian Cooking from The Middle East and North Africa cookbook that I've only used twice before. I love this book. I take it everywhere with me, to my room, the living room, kitchen, studio...just to flip through it for inspiration. Yesterday I decided on a recipe and luckily I had almost every ingredient. The book says that according to some modern food writers, pasta in the Arab lands has an ancient history and may have been invented in Mesopotamia where it traveled to China via traders and onwards to Italy by Marco Polo. This particular dish though may be of Italian origin, brought to Tunisia by Italian settlers. It is very similar to italian pesto but the ingredients are different. The sauce is a blend of almonds, fresh parsley, basil, garlic, olive oil, butter (I used Earth Balance margarine), dried oregano, cayenne, salt, pepper and parmesan cheese (I used a vegan blend of cashews, miso paste and nutritional yeast). A very delicious sauce paired with spaghetti. I squeezed lemon on top of my pasta for a bright finish. Husband gave this two thumbs up. It's a keeper!