Amazing Vegan Mac

Growing up, my favourite meal was homemade macaroni and cheese. It had four ingredients: boiled elbow noodles, shredded cheddar, skim milk poured all over everything, and crushed potato chips on top. Talk about simple. And man, what an overload of dairy.

I’ve made a recipe to share with you that has the comfort food spirit of my childhood favourite, but with a little more flavour and zero animal products. Ooey, gooey, creamy, cheezy. This is my first follow up to my Vegan Cheeze post, and uses Daiya shredded Pepperjack and some Kick-Ace cheddar spread. This makes a large batch – be sure to use a very deep 9×9 dish, or a larger casserole dish will also work. It is amazing as leftovers, too.

Amazing Vegan Mac – An original recipe by Agent Minty

Ingredients:

• 3 cups dried elbow macaroni
• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 Tbsp margarine
• 2.5 Tbsp all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup dry white wine
• 1 cup plus 2/3 cup almond or other non-dairy milk
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
• 3/4 cup prepared Kick Ace cheddar
• 1/3 cup plus 2/3 cup Daiya Pepperjack shreds
• 1/4 cup parsley flakes
• Optional: a handful of rippled potato chips

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 400F and generously spray your casserole dish.
2. Bring a large pot of water to a boil and cook macaroni until al dente, while preparing the sauce.
3. Melt the margarine and oil together in a heavy-bottomed pot on medium-low heat.
4. Whisk in the flour and stir vigorously until it starts to foam and thicken slightly.
5. Gently sprinkle in a few spoonfuls of the wine and whisk vigorously until combined with the paste.
6. Drizzle in the remaining wine while whisking vigorously.
7. Stir in 1 cup of milk while continuing to whisk.
8. Take the pot off of the heat and whisk in the kick-ace cheddar and 1/3 cup of the daiya shreds.
9. Return to medium-low heat and stir until cheezes are melted.
10. Remove from heat and stir in drained, cooked noodles.
11. Fill casserole dish with alternating layers of 1/3 of cheezy noodles, 1/3 cup reserved daiya, and 1 Tablespoon of parmesan, until all are done.
12. Bake in centre of oven for one hour.
13. Top casserole with crushed potato chips, if desired.
14. Broil casserole for 3 minutes, or until golden brown.
15. Cool out of the oven for at least 5 minutes before serving.