Butternut Squash Mac 'n Cheese (Vegan!)
We love mac and anything cheese at the nubeleaf office. The addition of our Lemon Juice Powder and Organic Turmeric Powder to make this a grown up version of the standard classic. Plus its vegan!
The Recipe
1/2 butternut squash, peeled and chopped (yields: 3.5 cups raw)
3/4 cup raw cashew
1 cup non-dairy milk
3 garlic cloves
2 tsp nubeleaf Lemon Juice Powder
2 tsp kosher salt, or to taste
6-7 tbsp Nutritional yeast (provides the cheesy consistency)
1/2 tsp dijon mustard
1/2 tsp or a bit more of dried Italian seasoning
1 tsp nubeleaf Organic Turmeric Powder, optional (gives the orangey color)
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1/4-1/2 tsp Paprika + more to season
Your pasta of choice
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350F and line a baking sheet. In a bowl, season chopped squash with some oil (~1 tsp) and kosher salt (couple pinches) and stir. Add to baking sheet and roast in oven for 40 minutes, flipping once half way through baking.
2. Assemble your cheeze sauce ingredients (cashews, non-dairy milk, garlic, nubeleaf Lemon Juice Powder, salt, nutritional yeast, pepper, mustard, seasonings, and nubeleaf Organic Turmeric Powder) and add just the cashews to food processor. Process until a fine crumb forms similar to corn meal. Now add in the rest of the cheese sauce ingredients and process until smooth. Leave the sauce in the processor as you will be adding the squash.
3. Cook your pasta according to package directions. When squash is finished roasting, add it to the food processor and blend it with the cheese sauce until smooth. Adjust to taste. The sauce will thicken up with time. If at any point the sauce becomes too thick, you can add a bit of milk to thin it out.
4. Drain and rinse pasta with cold water. Now add the pasta back into the same pot and add your desired amount of cheeze sauce on top. Stir well. Add in any desired mix-ins like peas or broccoli. You can either heat this up in the pot, or pour it into a casserole dish, sprinkle on breadcrumbs + paprika, and bake it at 350 for about 20-25 minutes. The casserole will serve about 4 people if you use 450 grams dry macaroni or penne. Store any leftover sauce in the fridge and use within a few days.
Enjoy!
Based on a recipe by Oh She Glows. Original recipe can be found here.