Vegan Mac-N-Cheese

• 12 ounces elbow macaroni or other small pasta noodles

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Cook the pasta as usual.
3. Drain the pasta water into the cashews and soak them for 5 minutes. (Pour the pasta itself into a casserole dish and stir occasionally while the cashews are soaking, to keep the noodles from clumping together.)
4. Drain the cashews and add to a blender.
5. Add the other cheese sauce ingredients to the blender. Blend until smooth.
6. Pour the cheese sauce in with the noodles. Stir until the noodles are well-coated.
7. In a separate bowl, stir together the breadcrumbs, paprika, onion powder, and garlic powder. Mix in the melted butter until the mixture has a crumbly texture. Sprinkle over the pasta.
8. Bake uncovered for 15 minutes.

• If you don’t have the time or energy to bake the pasta, you can also just mix the cheese sauce in with the noodles and serve that way.
• You can make the cheese sauce ahead of time and freeze it.

This recipe is heavily based on “The Best Vegan Mac And Cheese” by NoraCooks.

After some experimentation, I made the following changes:

• Reduced the amount of nooch and replace with an equal quantity of cashews
• Added onion powder and black pepper to the sauce, and doubled the amount of garlic powder
• Added onion powder and garlic powder to the breadcrumb topping

You definitely want to blend the shredded cheese into the cheese sauce. I tried mixing it in afterward and it made for a really awkward texture, since vegan cheese doesn’t melt well.