My 9-year old son Noah watched parts of the documentary The Game Changers that is about plant-based vegan athletes. In the film they show someone cooking mac and cheese and Noah who never have been a big fan of that asked if we cook some. I made it gluten-free since I’m gluten sensitive and the base is cashews and came out just amazing and I have now one happy boy so I give you Noah’s mac and cheese.
INGREDIENTS
16 oz. Gluten-free macaroni pasta
- 1 cup gluten-free bread crumbs
- tablespoon olive oil
- a couple of pinches of salt
- 2 tbsp. fresh parsley, minced (optional)
- 1 1/2 cups raw cashews soaked for 2-4 hours
- 1 1/2 cups almond milk
- 1/2 cup nutritional yeast
- juice of 1/2 large lemon
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 2 tsp honey mustard or Dijon mustard
- Salt to taste
- 2 tsp smoked paprika
- 1 tbsp sriracha sauce (optional for spicy)
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Cook pasta according to package, drain and rinse under cold water.
- Mix bread crumbs, salt parley and olive oil until crumbly.
INSTRUCTIONS
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Pasta: Bring a large pot of water to a boil, cook your noodles and set aside.
Bread Crumbs: While waiting for the water to boil, start with your bread topping first. I toasted two pieces of bread we had on hand really well and processed them in the food processor until crumbly, a high speed blender will work too. Place the crumbs in a small bowl, drizzle with olive oil and a twist or two of the salt grinder, mix well and set aside. Quickly rinse the processor/blender bowl and move on to the cheese sauce.
Cheese sauce: In food processor/blender, combine all of the cheese sauce ingredients and blend until creamy. Add more water, a tablespoon or so at a time, and blend again. Taste for flavor adding anything extra to suit your taste.
Assemble: Once pasta is cooked and drained. Add pasta back to the pot it was cooked in, add the cheese sauce and combine well (you can also mix it together in the baking dish). In baking dish, pour mac & cheese and top with bread crumbs.
Bake: Place in oven for 20 – 25 minutes, check after 15 minutes if crumbs are darkening too much for your liking, cover with foil.
