Vegan Mac and Cheese

Although we're not vegan, I do like to create vegan dishes from time to time, especially when I am using up what we already have in our fridge and pantry. It also happens that Hannah Fagadau's birthday was yesterday, and she is lactose intolerant, so this is another way I am able to celebrate her. Happy birthday!!

Usually, a vegan cheese sauce consists of cashews (soaked overnight but I have a confession, I never remember to soak them, and to be honest it doesn't matter, but I digress...). To be a little different I decided to use white beans and, wow! I was very impressed. I do love a cashew cheese sauce, so I'll be creating a taco recipe with vegan cream sauce soon for the blog!

Yields 4 servings

Ingredients:

Pasta and veggies:

• 1 box of Banza Rigatoni or pasta of your choice

• 1 head of broccoli, cut into florets

• 1 lemon, zested and juiced

• 1 tablespoon of olive oil

• Pinch of red pepper flakes

• Kosher salt

• Pepper

Sauce:

• 2 cans of cannellini beans, rinsed

• Juice of 1 lemon

• 2 teaspoons of apple cider vinegar

• 1/4 cup of pasta water

• 4 garlic cloves

• 1/2 cup of nutritional yeast (seems like a lot, but trust me)

• 1 teaspoon of Dijon mustard

• Kosher salt

• Pepper

Topping:

• 1/2 cup of Panko breadcrumbs

• 1 tablespoon of Italian seasoning

• 1 tablespoon of olive oil

Directions

1. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.

2. Cook the pasta in a large pot of boiling salted* water, stirring occasionally, until al

dente, about 7 minutes.

3. Meanwhile, put the broccoli into a skillet with 1/4 cup of water with a tight lid on

top, and allow it to steam for 4 minutes.

4. Once the broccoli is done, remove it from the heat and pour it into a clean bowl.

Mix with the lemon zest, lemon juice, red pepper flakes, olive oil, kosher salt, and

pepper

5. For the sauce, combine all of the ingredients in a blender and blend until

combined. Adjust seasoning according to your taste.

6. Stir the pasta, broccoli, and sauce together. Pour the filling into an oven-safe

dish.

7. To create the topping, pour the ingredients into a small bowl and stir to combine.

8. Sprinkle on top of your "mac and cheese" and place the dish in the oven for 15

minutes to toast the top. Enjoy!

*Hot tip: properly salted pasta water should taste like the sea