{"id":15933,"date":"2016-01-25T05:00:50","date_gmt":"2016-01-25T11:00:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.blissfulbasil.com\/?p=15933"},"modified":"2021-04-27T13:01:28","modified_gmt":"2021-04-27T19:01:28","slug":"smoky-vegan-macaroni-and-cheese","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.blissfulbasil.com\/smoky-vegan-macaroni-and-cheese\/","title":{"rendered":"Smoky Vegan Macaroni and Cheese"},"content":{"rendered":"

This smoky vegan macaroni and cheese is the ultimate comfort food. It's rich, ultra cheesy, made with whole plant-powered ingredients, and it comes together in a speedy 30 minutes flat.<\/p>\n

Heaps of warm elbow pasta\u00a0tossed in spoonful after spoonful of gooey cashew cheddar cheese.\u00a0It's hard to compete with this deeply comforting dish when faced with\u00a0icy cold winter weather and snow.<\/p>\n

\"Smoky<\/a><\/p>\n

Other than sharing Gena's<\/a> lovely butternut squash mac 'n' cheese recipe\u00a0back in the fall, this is actually the first vegan mac and cheese dish I've ever shared. It was worth the wait for me, and I have a hunch\u00a0you'll feel the same (or at least I hope).<\/p>\n

To make it, you'll start by cooking up a bit batch of elbow pasta. I use brown rice pasta, but feel free to use whichever kind your mac 'n' cheese heart desires.<\/p>\n

\"Smoky<\/p>\n

While the\u00a0pasta is cooking, you'll get to work on the cashew cheddar cheese sauce. You'll blend together\u00a0soaked raw cashews, filtered water, roasted red peppers, nutritional yeast, arrowroot powder (a root-derived thickening agent), apple cider vinegar, lots of smoked paprika, sea salt, black pepper, and an optional dash of both cayenne and hot sauce.<\/p>\n

Once everything is blended into a smooth liquid, you'll pour it into a saucepan and whisk over medium heat for 5 minutes or until the sauce thickens like so...<\/p>\n

\"Smoky<\/a><\/p>\n

Then, spoon\u00a0all of that gooey, nearly stretchy cheddar cheese sauce over the\u00a0warm elbow pasta and get stirring...<\/p>\n

\"Smoky<\/a><\/p>\n

It will\u00a0initially seem like there is wayyyy too much sauce, but the noodles will draw it in as you stir and trust me, you'll want every bit\u00a0of it.<\/p>\n

\"Smoky<\/a><\/p>\n

The final step: taste and season with a bit more sea salt, black pepper, and smoked paprika. The smoked paprika weaves a savory smoky flavor throughout, so if you want to up the smokiness even more, go on and get shaking. I usually add a few more dashes along with a bit more sea salt and black pepper.<\/p>\n

Then, serve yourself a generous mound of that cheesy\u00a0goodness\u00a0and get cozy.<\/p>\n