Vegan Baked Mac And Cheese
Creamy baked vegan mac and cheese with hidden veggies.
- Prep time
- 15 min
- Cook time
- 25 min
- Yield
- 3 servings
- Difficulty
- HARD
Ingredients
- 1 butternut squash (weights 2 to 3 lbs/around 1kg)
- 2 tsp olive oil (or other light oil)
- salt (to taste)
- 4 tsp sage
- black pepper (to taste)
- 200 g pasta
- 1 5 tbsp dairy-free butter
- 1 5 tbsp plain flour
- 250 ml almond milk
- 40 g vegan cheese (equals just under two slices of Violife vegan cheese)
- 1/8 tsp black pepper
- 1/2 tsp chilli powder
- 1/2 tsp smoked paprika
- 1/2 tsp onion powder
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp lemon juice
- 1 tsp sage
- 2 5 tbsp ground almonds
- 2 tbsp nutritional yeast
Instructions
- 1
Peel and cut your butternut squash. Make sure you remove all the skin.
- 2
Rub in oil and all your spices. Bake in the oven at 180°C/356°F for 25 minutes until soft.
- 3
Make your pasta and sauce in the meantime.
- 4
To make your cheese sauce, melt dairy-free butter in a small pan. Wait for butter to fully melt. Then add flour. Whisk vigorously until combined.
- 5
Start gradually and slowly (e.g, only 1/4 cup at once) adding your plant milk. At the same time, keep whisking.
- 6
Once you’ve added all your plant milk, keep whisking some more. The sauce should be perfectly smooth with no lumps.
- 7
Lastly, add all your seasoning and shredded vegan cheese to the hot pan. Keep whisking on medium-heat until everything has dissolved and thickened to almost gravy-like consistency (but less thick).
- 8
Boil your pasta - make sure to boil about 3-4 minutes less than regularly. Your pasta needs to be al dente before going into the oven.
- 9
Once your pasta is cooked (do not overcook), reserve ¼ cup of pasta water. Drain the rest. Add your pasta to a large baking tray.
- 10
Pour over your cheese sauce and pasta water. Add butternut squash. Mix well and add some more smoked paprika and sage if desired. Top off with ground almonds and nutritional yeast.
- 11
Bake in the oven at 180°C/35°F for 25 minutes. Serve hot or store in an airtight container for later.