Cream sauce sans cream

I remember a decade or so ago, I dined at the The Cheesecake factory where they had this amazing pasta with fettuccine, sun-dried tomatoes, and chicken all tossed in a rich cream sauce. Since then, I have revised my ways, for the better in my heart of hearts. I will have to admit, there is something satisfying about a cream sauce. In this rendition, roasted cashews and it's accompaniments were blended into a "cream" sauce and honestly, I doubt you will miss it's dairy counterpart.

Fusilli with herbed cashew cream and spring asparagus

Cooked fusilli pasta was tossed with blanched asparagus, fresh ground Hawaiian red sea salt, and a cashew cream sauce made of fresh tarragon, lemon zest, lemon juice, roasted garlic, Dijon mustard, nutritional yeast, and filtered water. To finish the sauce, I whisked in extra-virgin olive oil. And to garnish: some chopped Italian parsley and chopped roasted cashews.