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.
Cheese Sauce instructions:
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil
- Add the chopped potatoes and carrots, boil until a fork easily pierces them (roughly 10 minutes)
- Transfer the carrots and potatoes to a blender
- Add all remaining cheese sauce ingredients to the blender and process until smooth
- Taste the cheese sauce and adjust the flavours if desired
Pasta Instructions:
- Preheat the oven to 400°
- Using the boiling water from the carrots and potatoes, boil the cauliflower florets for 5 minutes
- 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)
- Drain the cauliflower
- Rinse and drain the pasta
- Fill the bottom of a square 8x8 baking dish with 1/3 of the cheese sauce
- Layer in the pasta to cover the bottom cheese sauce
- Spread a second 1/3 of the cheese sauce over the Chickapea Elbow noodles
- Cover the cheese sauce with the boiled cauliflower
- Top the cauliflower with the remaining cheese sauce
- Dot the top layer with vegan cream cheese
- Bake the dish for 20 minutes
- Sprinkle with the crumbled hippie chips and bake for an additional 10 minutes
- Remove the dish from the oven and let stand for 2 minutes before serving hot
- 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
