This recipe is a hybrid of a vegan recipe for macaroni and cheese and a traditional dairy-based recipe.
To prepare this for both vegans and non-vegans, you can set aside a portion of the noodles with the veggie-based sauce for your vegan diner before adding the shredded cheese and butter. Then, stir in the cheese and butter to finish the sauce for non-vegans.
I use an immersion blender to puree the sauce, but you could also transfer all of the ingredients for the sauce to a regular blender.
10 ounces elbow macaroni
For the sauce:
1/4 cup ground cashews*
1 small potato (about 6 ounces/three-quarters of a cup), peeled and diced
1 carrot (about 4 ounces/half a cup), peeled and diced
1 tsp minced garlic
3 tbsp nutritional yeast
2 tbsp vegetable oil
1 tsp lemon juice
salt and pepper
1 tbsp butter
1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese (or 1/4 cup cheddar and 1/4 cup Asiago is also good!)
1/2 cup reserved pasta cooking water
Cook the pasta:
Cool the macaroni in boiling, salted water until al dente. Scoop out about a half a cup of the pasta cooking water and set aside (you'll need some of this water for the sauce). Now, drain the rest of the water from the pasta and return the pasta to the pot while you make the sauce.
Make the sauce:
1. Steam the potato and carrot until it's very tender and it breaks apart easily with a fork (about 10 minutes). Drain the water and return the veggies to the pot.
2. Add the ground cashews, garlic, nutritional yeast, oil, lemon juice, and salt and pepper to the potato and carrot mixture. Using an immersion blender, blend until very smooth. Blend in some of the reserved pasta water, a tablespoon at a time, until the sauce is creamy and smooth. Taste and add salt and pepper if needed.
3. At this point the sauce is done if you want a completely vegan mac and cheese. Stir into pasta, then serve.
4. Or, you can add dairy to the sauce: Stir in butter and shredded cheese until melted and smooth; taste and add salt and pepper if needed. Stir into pasta, then serve.
*To make the ground cashews: grind dry, raw cashews until very fine (almost like a powder; it will have the consistency of almond flour)
Serves 3-4
