Guilt-Free Mac & Cheese

Photo: Jessica

Ingredients

3 1/2 cups raw butternut squash, chopped

3/4 cup raw cashews

1 cup unsweetened almond milk

1/2 teaspoon minced garlic

1/2 teaspoon lemon, juiced

2 teaspoons sea salt

7 tablespoons Nutritional yeast (provides the cheesy consistency)

1/2 teaspoon country dijon mustard

1/2 teaspoon or a bit more of dried Italian seasoning

1/2 teaspoon Tumeric powder, optional (gives the orangey color)

Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

1/2 teaspoon Paprika+ more to season

Your choice of whole wheat rotini noodles, quinoa noodle

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350F and line a baking sheet. In a bowl, season chopped squash with 1 tsp oil and couple pinches of sea salt and stir. Add to baking sheet and roast in oven for 40 minutes, flipping once half way through baking.

Assemble your cheese sauce ingredients (cashews, non-dairy milk, garlic, lemon, salt, nutritional yeast, pepper, mustard, seasonings) and add just the cashews to food processor. Process until a fine crumb forms similar to corn meal.

Now add in the rest of the cheese sauce ingredients and process until smooth. Leave the sauce in the processor as you will be adding the squash.

Cook your pasta according to package directions. When squash is finished roasting, add it to the food processor and blend it with the cheese sauce until smooth. Adjust to taste. The sauce will thicken up with time. If at any point the sauce becomes too thick, you can add a bit of milk to thin it out.

Drain and rinse pasta with cold water.

Now add the pasta back into the same pot and add your desired amount of cheese sauce on top. Stir well. Add in any desired mix-ins like peas or broccoli. You can either heat this up in the pot, or pour it into a casserole dish, sprinkle on panko + paprika, and bake it at 350 for about 20-25 minutes.