Better Mac & Cheese
Print RecipeIngredients
- 120 g Trottole pasta
- 2 tbsp Mihokos vegan butter (can replace with regular butter)
- 1.5 tbsp Eikorn flour
- 1/2 tsp paprika
- dash nutmeg
- 1 cup macadamia milk
- 1/8 cup shredded parmesan (replace with nutritional yeast to make it vegan)
- 8 finely chopped sage leaves
- 1 tbsp dried chives
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 350F and lightly grease a round oven proof bowl and set aside. Bring a large pot of heavily salted water to a boil, once it has reached a boil add the pasta and cook al dente, about 7 minutes. Drain and place into your baking dish.
Make the bechamel sauce by having a large sauce pan on medium heat. Melt the butter in the pan and add the flour, stir for a few seconds with a whisk to cook off the flour a bit but be careful not to brown it. With the whisk in hand, slowly begin pouring in all the milk while continuing the whisking. Continue on medium heat and whisk until the sauce thickens to coat the back of the spoon without gliding off. Add salt, pepper, a dash of nutmeg and the paprika, whisk again and take it off the heat. Stir in the parmesan and sage and add it to the baking dish with the pasta. Coat each bit of the pasta with the bechamel sauce, top with the dried chives and bake for 20 minutes. Serve warm.
Notes
You can replace the vegan butter with a grass fed one and Eikorn flour with regular flour.
Trottole pasta is worth going out of your way for. It’s curly like a pigs tail and hollow on the inside which in my opinion is the perfect vessel for a rich and creamy mac and cheese. Mine happened to be branded by Dolce & Gabbana and I picked it up on a visit to World Market, because honestly who can resist that, but Target carries it so should be easy to find. The bechamel in this recipe is made from Eikorn flour because it’s easier to digest if you are sensitive to wheat. The flour cooks off in a bit of my favorite vegan butter and then fills out with a rich and creamy semi homemade macadamia milk. I say semi-homemade since I bought this brand from thrive market called Modest Mylk. It is super easy to make at home, just add water and you get a creamy nut filled milk. I love it because its tastes delicious and its in line with me trying to cut down on my overall consumption and waste. Little jar with 42 servings of nut milk and shelf stable, done.
Once the pasta cooks al dente, you can drain it and then make the bechamel or multitask and make the bechamel while the pasta cooks. To make it easy, the pasta and paprika spiked bechamel marry in the cooking vessel with fresh fragrant sage and topped with some dried chives before cooking up. The result? Crunchy and brown caramelized tops with a tender and creamy inside that explodes with each bite. Congratulations if you share!
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