Not-so-top-secret Vegan Mac n Cheese
Nothing fancy this time around, just…my very favorite recipe in the whole wide world.
Vegan Mac n Cheese
1 cup raw cashews
2 cups water
1/2 cup nutritional yeast
1/4 cup oats (any kind)
2 Tbsp neutral vegetable oil
1 Tbsp mellow miso
1 Tbsp Dijon mustard
1 Tbsp tomato paste
1 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp salt (I use coarse, if you use fine, start with 1/4 tsp and then add more to taste)
I know, I know, another blended cashew recipe, but this one is the ultimate in comfort food, which I think we can agree - is needed right now.
So:
Cook a pound of pasta. Don't forget to salt your water.
If you've got a high speed blender, blend all of the sauce ingredients together until silky smooth (pausing to scrape down the sides as necessary). If you blender isn't high speed, you'll probably want to soak your cashews for a couple of hours before hand.
Stovetop method:
Pour sauce ingredients into a large saucepan and whisk over med-high heat until thick and creamy (about 5-10 minutes). Don't let it sit unattended or it will stick to the bottom of the pan, get gloppy, and burn. Just listen to a podcast or myNovember playlistand space out while you stir for a few.
Combine with the pasta and enjoy!
Or, you could do the baked version:
Preheat your oven to 350°F.
Lightly oil a large (at least 9x13) baking dish. After you cook the pasta and once the sauce has been blended, combine them back in the pasta cooking pot and mix well. This is also a great time to stir in any mix-ins you're bringing to the table. I find that frozen peas are a classic that work well here, but I've also got a penchant for broccoli that's been chopped small and steamed (or boiled with the pasta, let's be honest), and smoky proteins like tempeh bacon or smoked tofu, er even things like BBQ soy curls work great - just be aware that anything with a strong flavor will become the main flavor because this sauce is kind of a delicate canvas. It's also hella good just on it's own, so no pressure to addanythingin to it! Do you.
Anyway, after it's well mixed, pour it all into the prepared baking dish. It can go straight into the oven here, but if you're bothering to turn on your oven, you might as well be bothered to make some breadcrumbs for the top.
Breadcrumb mix (no measurements here because...you can do this. You can figure out how much of each of these to use, I promise you.):
Panko breadcrumbs (good luck finding any other store-bought bread crumbs that are vegan, but you could make your own if you're really bored and have stale bread around)
melted vegan butter or olive oil
salt & pepper
optional: garlic powder, paprika, nutritional yeast, oregano
Combine those things in a small bowl and then spread evenly over the top of your pre-baked mac n cheese.
Bake for 20-30 minutes, until hot and the breadcrumbs are golden. The sauce will thicken as it bakes. This does result in a stickier-looking sauce, but sometimes that's what you want! If you're into a Velveeta-esque mac, do the stovetop method.