Easy Vegan Roasted Red Pepper Mac and Cheese
Author -Yields: 4 servings
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup unroasted cashews, soaked in water for at least 2 hours and drained (70g)
- 3/4 cup roasted red bell pepper (170g; you can use store-bought, roasted red peppers from a jar, or homemade roasted peppers)
- 1 clove garlic
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/4 cup nutritional yeast (20g)
- 2 tablespoons white miso (30g; substitute 1 1/2 tablespoons/20g brown or red miso)
- 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1/3 cup water (80ml)
- 8 ounces pasta of choice, small or medium shape (I like to use elbows or small shells for this recipe)
- cashew parmesan cheese (optional, for topping)
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of salted water to boil. Add your pasta of choice and cook according to package instructions.
- While the pasta cooks, transfer your cashews, roasted peppers, garlic, onion powder, nutritional yeast, miso, lemon, salt, and pepper to a blender, along with 1/3 cup water. Blend till smooth, adding a tablespoon or two of extra water if the sauce is overly thick or difficult to blend (it should be about the texture of an alfredo sauce). Taste sauce and add salt and pepper as desired.
- When the pasta is ready, drain it and fold in your sauce (you may not use all of it; if you have some leftover, it can be thinned and used as a salad dressing!). Divide pasta onto plates and top as desired. Serve.
Notes
Leftover sauce will keep for up to 5 days in an airtight container in the fridge.