Cheesy goodness and Chickapea Elbow pasta, oh my! It tastes wickedly good but is secretly healthy and super accessible. This delicious recipe is vegan, gluten-free and nut-free. It ticks all the nutrient and veggie packed meal boxes while also being incredibly addictive and satisfying.

Cheesy Cauliflower Elbow Pasta Bake

• Prep Time:  30 minutes
• Cook Time: 40 minutes
• Total Time: 1 hour 10 minutes
• Course: Dinner
• Cuisine: American
• Servings:  6

 Cheese Sauce Ingredients:

• 1 cup peeled Yukon gold potatoes, chopped
• ½ cup peeled carrots, chopped
• 1 cup unsweetened oat milk
• 1/3 cup nutritional yeast
• 2 Tbsp avocado oil
• 3 Tbsp lemon juice
• 1 tsp salt
• ½ tsp onion powder
• ½ tsp garlic powder
• ¼ tsp paprika
• 1 Tbsp arrowroot starch

Pasta Ingredients:

• 1 Package Chickapea Elbow noodles
• 2 Tbsp table salt (for boiling pasta)
• 1 Head of cauliflower, chopped into florets
• 2 Tbsp vegan cream cheese
• 2 Tbsp of original Hippie Snacks Cauliflower Crisps, crushed

Cheese Sauce instructions:

1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil
2. Add the chopped potatoes and carrots, boil until a fork easily pierces them (roughly 10 minutes)
3. Transfer the carrots and potatoes to a blender
4. Add all remaining cheese sauce ingredients to the blender and process until smooth
5. Taste the cheese sauce and adjust the flavours if desired 

Pasta Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 400°
2. Using the boiling water from the carrots and potatoes, boil the cauliflower florets for 5 minutes
3. Meanwhile, prepare the Chickapea Elbow pasta to package specifications (heat 16 cups of water and 2 Tbsp salt in a large pot over high heat until boiling. Add the pasta to the water and decrease the heat to maintain a gentle boil. Stir and cook the pasta for 6 minutes)
4. Drain the cauliflower
5. Rinse and drain the pasta
6. Fill the bottom of a square 8x8 baking dish with 1/3 of the cheese sauce
7. Layer in the pasta to cover the bottom cheese sauce
8. Spread a second 1/3 of the cheese sauce over the Chickapea Elbow noodles
9. Cover the cheese sauce with the boiled cauliflower
10. Top the cauliflower with the remaining cheese sauce
11. Dot the top layer with vegan cream cheese
12. Bake the dish for 20 minutes
13. Sprinkle with the crumbled hippie chips and bake for an additional 10 minutes
14. Remove the dish from the oven and let stand for 2 minutes before serving hot
15. Enjoy!

Recipe Notes:

• Arrowroot starch can be replaced with cornstarch but it will change the flavour of the sauce slightly
• Tofutti Cream cheese was used in this dish
• Seasoned vegan/ gluten-free bread crumbs can be substituted in place of the Hippie Snacks