Ok, so this kinda happened on accident. I was recipe testing on a Sunday and had just made beautiful chickpea pasta shells for a yummy Spring salad. I immediately was brought back to childhood memories of those Velveta shells I use to eat as a kid. Oh my poor Mama, she has no clue she was feeding us garbage.
And just like that a light bulb went off and I was frantically scavenging my pantry for a non-dairy alternative for the creaminess of cheese. Since my allergy to dairy, I’ve made “cheeses” with nuts, nut butters and nutritional yeast. This time, I needed the creamy texture and color of the cheddar cheese. Little did I know that last nights market trip to Erewhon would be the solution. I love Erewhon market for their ready made soups. And last night, I bought Vegan Butternut Squash soup! Boom!
In a medium saucepan, I poured 1/2 c. of the soup, added 1 TBSP Nutritional Yeast, salt, and stirred over medium heat for 5-8 minutes! It was pure liquid gold!
In a ramekin, I put the drained pasta shells and then I poured the liquid gold on top. Mixed it through and the smell was heaven. The consistency was perfect! But now, the real test is the taste! Ummm,...it was everything I miss about macaroni and cheese but it was allergy friendly!!
And to top it off, I wanted a crunch! I sprinkled Pig Out Chips on top (they are vegan and delicious!) available at Whole Foods! Did I mention they taste like bacon???? But they are made of dehydrated mushrooms? Yep! They have the smoky flavor of bacon and the crunch of a kettle chip! Match made in heaven!
I wanted to really validate my endeavors, so I used my friends‘ kids as tastetesters and guess what??? They had no idea it was dairy-free! Win! Win!
If you make this recipe, tag me on IG @cardiocouture! Bon Appetite!
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