Dining In - Pesto Mac 'N' Cheese

Pesto Mac 'N' Cheese - Chloe's Vegan Italian Kitchen

Eating this dish felt like being a kid again. It's mac 'n' cheese for one thing, but it's also colorful with a bright orange pasta sauce and bright green pesto topping. It'd be a great dish to make in the summer, but we loved it just as much in the winter. :) I made this to enjoy as dinner with my non-vegan boyfriend. I was worried it, served with the Creamed Spinach wouldn't be enough of a meal, but I'm happy to report it was a winner for both of us and we were very full! The sauce was creamy and cheesy from the blended roux made with nutritional yeast. The basil pine nut pesto was spot on, adding more salt to the dish. This makes a huge batch, which for us often results in overeating, but you could save lots for leftovers or serve to a bigger group (like for a summer BBQ... that unfortunately is months away).

Mac 'N' Cheese
1 pound elbow pasta (I used gluten-free brand Tinkyada) 
3 tablespoons olive oil
1/3 cup flour (or gluten-free flour to make it a fully GF dish)
2 garlic cloves, minced
3 cups almond milk
1/2 cup nutritional yeast
2 tablespoons tomato paste
2 teaspoons sea salt
1 tablespoon lemon juice

Pesto Sauce
2 cups basil leaves, packed
1/4 cup pine nuts (I used raw)
2 garlic cloves
1 tablespoon lemon juice
3/4 teaspoon sea salt (I found the pesto to be too salty, so next time I'll reduce this)
1/4 cup olive oil


To Prepare Mac 'N' Cheese:

Gluten-Free Elbow Pasta

Begin by preparing the pasta according to the package, and adding a pinch of salt to the water. Drain and rinse the pasta. I do this more often when using gluten-free pasta to wash away the milky-looking cooking water. Set aside.

Make the cheese sauce by blending flour and olive oil in a medium saucepan. This looks like a pale green paste and I was worried about cooking it too long for fear of burning it, but Chloe suggests cooking for 3-5 minutes. Add minced garlic and cook for just a minute. Next add almond milk, nutritional yeast, tomato paste, and salt. Stir and bring to a boil. Simmer on low heat to allow to thicken. Remove from heat and stir in lemon juice.

Roux in the Making - Flour, Oil, Garlic

Vegan Cheese Sauce

Toss cooked pasta with the sauce in a large bowl. When I first did this I thought there was way too much sauce, but I let it sit for a while to thicken and even put it in the oven to keep warm. This helped quite a bit and the sauce to pasta ratio was just fine.

To Prepare Pesto Sauce:

Vegan Pesto in Under 5 Minutes!

Use a food processor to chop up basil leaves, garlic cloves, pine nuts and blend with lemon juice and salt. Once blended add in olive oil and pulse until incorporated and it resembles traditional pesto sauce.
Top each serving of mac 'n' cheese with pesto sauce and savor every bite!