Smoked gooda cheeze sauce, sautéed onions and butternut squash form the base for this comforting plant-based macaroni and cheeze.
To make the cheeze sauce, using a high speed blender, blend together the roasted cashews, nutritional yeast, onion and garlic powder, flour, miso paste, beer and non-dairy milk until you reach a smooth consistency.
Alternatively, if you do not have a high speed blender, process the cashew nuts and nutritional yeast until you reach a paste-like consistency, then add the remaining ingredients and blend until smooth. Note that this method will not likely produce as smooth of consistency.
If you have not already, cook the pasta — making sure it is cooked al dente.
*For the squash, peel the squash and then using a food processor shred the squash using the course grater attachment. Alternatively, you can use the large holes on a box grater.
Next, heat a large non-stick fry pan over medium heat. Once hot, add the butter, followed by the onions. Cook for a minute or so, and then add the grated squash.
Let cook for 5 minutes or so, or until the squash and onions have fully cooked through.
At this point, add the pasta to a large bowl and pour in the cheeze sauce. Add the onion and squash and gently stir to evenly distribute the ingredients. Taste for seasoning.
Note: Depending on how creamy you like your macaroni and cheeze, you may wan to add a touch more non-dairy milk (or save some of the pasta water), to thin the sauce out a bit. The recipe as it stands now, is meant to be a somewhat of a drier macaroni and cheeze.
Preheat the oven to 400°F (205°C)
Next, place the macaroni mixture into a greased casserole dish, or a cast iron fry pan.
Add the melted butter to the breadcrumbs and toss to coat the crumbs in the butter. Top the macaroni with the breadcrumbs and bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the pasta has heated through and the breadcrumbs have formed a nice golden crust.
Let cool for 5 to 10 minutes before serving.
Cavatappi pasta is basically just longer, fancier macaroni noodles.