There are LOTS of ways to do vegan Mac... and I've been testing out all the options for a long time. My initial goal was nixing vegan cheese all together avoiding all the overly processed yuck. It led me to trying various forms of cashew cheese, tofu cheese, nutritional yeast sauces but none of them were hitting the mark. In fact, some of them were really gross. Total fails.
Finally, I was swayed by the Daiya Smoked Gouda.... I mean, it would just be remiss to not use that as a Mac base. I can honestly say that this is a perfect combo of veggie/non traditional vegan & yummy cheesy goodness.
Enjoy!!!!
Ingredients:
12oz Banza Chickpea Elbow Pasta
4 cups cubed Butternut Squash
1 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 cup diced white onion
1 close garlic (minced)
3 Tbsp Earth Balance Vegan spread
1/4 cup all purpose flour
1.5 cups vegetable stock
3.5oz Daiya Vegan Smoked Gouda cheese
2 oz vegan cheddar cheese
1 Tbsp Nutritional yeast
1/2 Teaspoon Salt & Pepper
1 Tbsp Dijon Mustard
1/2 Teaspoon Paprika
1/3 cups Herbed Bread crumbs ( optional)
1 Tbsp dry parsley (optional)
Instructions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Cook pasta as directed on box, drain & set aside.
Boil cubed butternut squash until tender & set aside in Blender.
Begin cheese sauce! In a sauce pan, add olive oil, diced onion & garlic & saute until tender. Add 2 Tablespoons of the Earth Balance spread & stir until melted. Slowly add flour to make a roux. Add 1.5 cups veggie stock, 1/2 cup at a time, stirring with a whisk until a medium thick sauce has formed. Add cubed vegan cheese & nutritional yeast & stir until completely melted. Once melted, pour cheese sauce into blender with the butternut squash. Add salt, pepper, mustard & paprika & blend until smooth.
Combine noodles & cheese/squash sauce & transfer into a sprayed/greased casserole pan.
Prepare Breadcrumb mixture by melting 1 tablespoon Earth Balance Spread & combining with breadcrumbs & parsley. Top Mac & cheese.
Bake in oven for 30 mins. Let stand 5-10 minutes before serving.
Bonus points for making this an OAKLAND MAC & crumbling Lays potato chips on top :P
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