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Vegan Mac and Cheese - a lightened up version using butternut squash as the base for the sauce with herbs, spices and a crispy breadcrumb topping for full on comfort food flavours #veganrecipes #veganmeal #meatfree #pastarecipes | Recipe on thecookandhim.com

Vegan Mac and Cheese

Prep: 20 mins | Cook: 60 mins | Total: 80 mins | Quantity: 2-4 servings (depends how hungry you are!!)

Ingredients

  • 1 medium butternut squash
  • 1 red onion
  • 3 cloves garlic
  • 3 sprigs rosemary – needles only, stalks discarded
  • drizzle of olive oil
  • 3 cups (425g) dried macaroni
  • 2 cups unsweetened almond milk
  • 1 heaped tsp mustard (English, Dijon, wholegrain all work with this)
  • 4 tblsp nutritional yeast
  • 1 tsp smoked paprika
  • salt and pepper
  • 1 cup (50g) fresh breadcrumbs (roughly 2 slices of bread whizzed to crumbs)
  • Food processor – I used this Magimix

Instructions

  1. Preheat your oven to 180 Fan / 200 C / 400 F / Gas 6 and line a large tray with parchment or a silicon mat
  2. Carefully peel the butternut squash and cut into bite sized cubes. Put onto the prepared tray
  3. Peel the onion and cut into chunks or segments. Peel the garlic and add the whole cloves to the tray with the onion
  4. Roast for 35-40 minutes until the squash is very tender
  5. While they're roasting, cook the macaroni in a large pan of boiling salted water for 10 minutes. Drain the pasta then return it to the saucepan. Set aside
  6. If you're making your own breadcrumbs whizz those up and scrape into a small bowl. Don't wash the processor bowl up yet!
  7. When the veg is cooked, remove from the oven and carefully spoon it all into the food processor bowl
  8. Add the almond milk, mustard, nutritional yeast and paprika and whizz everything to a smooth sauce. Taste and quickly whizz in salt and pepper as needed
  9. Pour the sauce over the pasta in the saucepan and stir together
  10. Pour into a large heatproof dish, sprinkle with the breadcrumbs and bake for 20 minutes (at the same temp as you roasted the veg) until golden and bubbling
  11. Serve immediately

Notes

  • This can be made in advance and stored in the fridge until needed - bake for 35-40 minutes from fridge cold, checking to make sure the centre is piping hot
  • Leftovers can also be chilled and reheated as above

Recipe by The Cook & Him at https://thecookandhim.com/recipes/vegan-mac-and-cheese/