Ok, so you're thinking, "Vegan Mac and Cheese? WTF? Why would I do that to myself?"
Yea, you got a point. Because ooey-gooey, rich and creamy mac an cheese is a delight. Add some lobster and you are in gourmet territory.
But I'm here to tell you that this dish is The Bomb. You may know that there's no dairy in it, but you won't really care. Because delicious. And what could be more 'murican on Preznit Day than vegan mac-n-cheese, amiright?
The base for this is a gravy made with toasted cashews. The gravy is delicious in its own right. I made a similar one for Thanksgiving, and it was a big hit with everyone, vegan and animal murderers alike.
Preheat oven to ~300 deg and pop a cookie sheet in the oven with about 3/4 cup of roasted cashews (you can also use raw cashews if you want, but might want to toast them longer). Toast about 10 minutes until fragrant and just starting to brown. Set the nuts aside in a bowl. Raise the oven to 350 deg. Coarsely grind about 2 slices of good whole-grain bread and dump the crumbs onto the cookie sheet. Toast these about 5-10 minutes until crunchy and lightly toasted. Set aside to use as topping.
Meanwhile, finely chop one large onion and saute in olive oil with a pinch of kosher salt and a few grinds of pepper. After about ten minutes, add about 2-3 cups of coarsely chopped mushrooms (I used about 10 large mushrooms; I separated the stems from the caps, but that's not an absolute necessity). Saute for a couple of minutes until the mushrooms are cooked down, then add 1-2 cloves of garlic, crushed or chopped. Saute a couple more minutes so the garlic is no longer raw, then set aside.
Meanwhile meanwhile, bring a pot of water to boil with some salt. Cook elbow macaroni (or other shape, if you prefer) to just done. Reserve a cup of pasta water for thinning the sauce if needed (I needed!). Dump the pasta into an oiled casserole dish and combine with the mushrooms and onions.
and meanwhile (again), chop another clove or two of garlic and about an inch of ginger. Sweat in a smallish sauce pan with about 2 tbsp olive oil, then add about a half teaspoon of sweet paprika (or hot paprika or other chile if you prefer it spicier), a big pinch of kosher salt, and stir for a minute or so, until the chile is fragrant. Add about a tbsp of flour to make a light roux. Add a tablespoon of white/yellow miso paste and stir to incorporate. (If you don't have miso paste, you can use tamari or good soy sauce at the next stage; but miso is the way to go here)
Slowly! add about 2 cups of vegetable stock, whisking to avoid making dumplings. Add the toasted cashews and bring to a boil for a couple of minutes, stirring frequently. If using the tamari/soy instead of miso, add it now. Dump the cashew stock into a blender (Vitamix, baby!) and process until very smooth, adding the reserved pasta water and more veggie stock as needed to get a pourable, cream soup consistency. Check for seasoning. You shouldn't need any additional salt at this point (unless you used unsalted cashews, in which case, maybe). If the tan color doesn't float your boat, you could, I suppose, blend in a half tsp or so of turmeric to brighten things up. But brown tones don't bother me, and you're gonna want to serve this with a green veggie anyway.
Combine the sauce with the pasta and onion/mushroom mix, then sprinkle the breadcrumbs over the top. All of the breadcrumbs, in a relatively even layer. Dot with vegan margarine (the Girl prefers Earth Balance, and, truth be told, it tastes pretty good). Bake, covered, for about 10 minutes, then uncovered for another 10 or so. It should be piping hot by now. Serve with a green vegetable on the side.
You just may find this addicting.
Vegan Mac and cheese? You're... you're a monster!
(I might try this sometime though)
Pigeonholing this meal as "mac & cheese" is like labelling Derek Jeter a great shortstop. Great, yes, and a shortstop, but not a great shortstop.
"Mac & gravy" doesn't have quite the same ring to it, though.
Don't the Italians call pasta "macaroni" and sauce "gravy" though?
Good question. Seems like something someone around here might know about...
"gravy" is more of an East Coast Italian-American thing, I think.
from the Repository article on tomato sauce:
I had JUST heard a guest on Craig Ferguson say this while listening this morning -- forget which one it was, though.
Paulie Walnuts did.
httpv://m.youtube.com/watch?v=NV6w2gfLDZ8
Heh, I often think of that scene when I encounter pasta sauces.
This was my thought upon reading, but you expressed it much more artfully.
I'll need to try this, as I'm sure we'd love it, but will need to come up with a better name.
Ooh, I'm intrigued. I've had to give up dairy for the sake of the peperoncino and I've mostly steered clear of cheese substitutes because the few I've tried have not been good. But this dish sounds tasty!
I like the cashew paste. First ran into this in a vegetarian curry joint in London. Found this:
Bagar Baingan
Cut 2 aubergines into 1 in cubes and soak in salt water for 10 min.
Toast coriander and dried red chile in a frying pan for 2- 3 minutes. Grind in a spice mill.
Heat 1 tbsp oil - cook onions and whole green chiles until brown.
Place the cooled onions, spice powder, yoghurt and coconut in a blender.
Heat 2 tbsp of oil, mustard seed, and curry leaves - as mustard begins to pop. add aubergine and salt. Stir-fry until soft.
Grind the cashew nuts and cream to a smooth sauce and set aside.
Using a blender, grind the cashew nuts and cream and set aside.
Stir the onion sauce into the eggplant and cook until tender. Pour over the cashew cream and serve.. Mmmm.
Again, NBB, you gotta start doing these in full posts. Too good to bury in LTE s.
so, word to the wise: Pepper indicated that the proportions here gave her a very thin sauce. Mine was not so thin. So I may have understated the amounts of cashews and flour used, as I needed additional stock and the reserved cup of pasta water to make the sauce easily pourable. It also thickens considerably with time and heat.