Yum Yum Pasta and Sauce!

HOW TO TURN THIS...

INTO A DELICIOUS MAC AND CHEESE PASTA!!

One of my favorite recipe sites is http://ohsheglows.com/ - by a gal who makes delish vegan recipes! I have been making a lot of her recipes lately as I think we have matching tastebuds - I love all the recipes I have made of hers and this is one of my favorites. One of the "hip foods" in the vegan world is Nutritional Yeast or "nooch" because it is a powerhouse food full of protein and B Vitamins (but if you are sensitive to MSG you may be sensitive to Nooch too) and it tastes cheesy! Personally I love it and crave it (delish sprinkled on popcorn, toast, popcorn). You can buy online or at any health food store. Anyway you can use it to make a pretty awesome fake macaroni and cheese too, but this recipe tastes it to a new level by adding butternut squash - what an amazing flavor! If you have the chance, you have to try this - both of my kids loved it too! So healthy and a great fall dinner!! YUM YUM!!!

Pasta mixed with chunks of roasted squash...

Butternut Squash Mac ‘n Cheeze (Vegan with Gluten-free & Nut-Free options)
Husband approved. Cook approved. Vegan approved. Omnivore approved. ‘Nough said.
Yield: 4 servings or 1.5 cups of cheeze sauce
Ingredients:
• 1 cup roasted butternut squash* or 1 cup canned butternut squash
• Extra virgin olive oil, S & P
• 1 tbsp Earth Balance (or other non-dairy butter replacer)
• 1 cup unsweetened & unflavoured almond milk (or use rice or hemp milk if nut-free)
• 1 tbsp arrowroot powder (or cornstarch)
• 5 tbsp nutritional yeast, or more to taste
• 2 tsp Dijon mustard
• 1/4 tsp garlic powder
• 3/4 tsp kosher salt (or to taste) & ground black pepper, to taste
• 4 servings pasta of your choice (I used whole wheat spirals)
• Mix-ins of choice (e.g., kale, spinach, broccoli, peas, pumpkin seeds, etc)
* I roast butternut squash by cutting in half, digging out seeds, brushing with Olive Oil and placing face down on a foil lined cookie sheet – bake at 400 for 45-60 minutes until you pierce with fork and is soft – you onlyneed 1 cup for this recipe, you can freeze the rest of use for another recipe like Bitternut Squash Soup.
1. Prepare the cheeze sauce in a pot on the stove top. Add Earth balance over low-medium heat. In a bowl, whisk together milk and arrowroot powder (or cornstarch or flour) until clumps are gone. Add into pot and whisk. Stir in remaining ingredients (nutritional yeast, Dijon, garlic, S & P) and whisk over low heat until thickened (about 5-7 minutes or so).
2. Cook your pasta according to package directions. The sauce makes enough to cover 4 servings of pasta.
3. In a blender, blend the sauce with 1 cup of roasted squash (or if using canned, simply stir 1 cup into the pot).
4. Add cooked, drained, and rinsed macaroni into pot, along with cheeze sauce & mix-ins. Heat and serve.
Notes: 1) My 3.5 pound squash made 5 cups cooked squash, so I had about 4 cups leftover. 2) Make full recipe or double, but the sauce does not cut in half well (the blender has a hard time blending it up) .