I was experimenting with variations on Vegan Mac and Cheese and this is the result! I learned roasting the butternut squash and adding some roasted sweet potato really added a depth of flavor.
This sauce works really well with spaghetti and is a perfect cozy lunch!
Ingredients:
6 oz of your favorite pasta shape (I typically go for tiny macaroni and in my opinion, Trader Joe’s brand is superior, period)
(Sauce) 8 oz butternut squash cubes (you can cut your own from a whole squash or use the pre-cut ones)
1 roasted sweet potato
1/4 cup cashews
2 tbsp nutritional yeast
1 clove garlic
1 lemon
(Add-ins)
Frozen peas
Broccoli
Few handfuls of kale
Green onion
(Toppings)
Vegan Parmesan (1/4 cup pumpkin seeds or cashews + 1/4 tsp dried oregano + nutritional yeast + salt)
Fried onion
Directions:
Heat a large pot of salted water until it boils. Add you pasta & cook until al dente, according to the package directions. Strain pasta & reserve 1/2 cup of pasta sauce.
(Sauce)
Wrap a sweet potato in foil and roast for 40-50 minutes at 375 degrees. (or if you are short on time you can peel the sweet potato and cut them into small pieces to roast with the butternut squash.
Cut butternut squash into small cubes. Coat them with a drizzle of olive oil and season with salt. Roast the sweet potato and butternut squash in the oven/ airfryer until golden brown, about 10-15 minutes (sweet potato may need a little extra time).
Set aside the crispy butternut squash pieces on the edges for garnish, and add the rest of the butternut squash and roasted sweet potato to the blender.
Place cashews into a small bowl and cover with 2/3 cup of hot water.
Add cashews along with the soaking liquid into a blender with the butternut squash and sweet potato. Add nutritional yeast, garlic, 1 tbsp lemon juice, 1/4 tsp salt. Blend butternut sauce until smooth. (Add some of the pasta water if the sauce is too thick)
(Assembly) Saute frozen peas or steam broccoli / cauliflower until tender.
Combine pasta, butternut sauce, and toppings in a bit pot. Stir to combine and season with salt and pepper. Add extra nutritional yeast and lemon juice to taste.
(Toppings) Blend the pumpkin seeds, dried oregano, nutritional yeast, and salt together until the texture resembles parmesan cheese. When I don’t have pumpkin seeds, I substitute them with extra cashews.
Sprinkle vegan parmesan and fried onion on top of the pasta & serve!
(Optional) You can pour the pasta into a baking disk, cover with vegan parmesan and broil in the oven for 2-3 minutes, but I think it’s great either way.
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