Dairy free and gluten free macaroni cheese

So, since a lot of you are participating in veganuary this month, we wanted to try and base our recipes around this and come up with some delicious vegan alternatives to some classic favourites. Mac and cheese is a well loved comfort food dish and would typically consist of a large amount of cheese and cream, however this version has neither of those things! I know what you might be thinking.. how can a macaroni cheese dish have no cheese in it, be gluten free and dairy free? Well..

The base of the creamy sauce is actually made from cashew nuts, which, when soaked and blended create an amazingly smooth and cream texture that can be used to make both sweet and savoury sauces and even cake fillings! And the cheesy flavour? Well the not so secret ingredient here is nutritional yeast! This isn’t like the kind of yeast that you find in some breads and it does look a little bit odd I will admit, but it tastes great in sauces, soups and sprinkled over salads. It also has an incredible cheesy taste to it.. so you can still enjoy cheese, without any actual cheese!

Ingredients:

100g Rizopia brown rice pasta

1/3 cup almond milk

70g cashew nuts

Salt & pepper

2 tbsp nutritional yeast

Pinch of nutmeg

1 garlic clove

Handful of frozen peas

Method:

Cook the pasta according to the instructions on the packet.

To make the sauce, blend the cashews, milk, garlic, nutmeg and nutritional yeast in a high speed blender until smooth and creamy. Season generously with salt and pepper and add a little more water or milk if needed.

Add the peas and sauce to the pasta and cook until piping hot. Serve and enjoy!