No potatoes, carrots, or nutritional yeast in this mac! Instead, this cheese sauce has a few secret ingredients – have you ever blended sautéed onions and peppers into a sauce before? What about cashews? It may sound strange, but it makes for an A-M-A-Z-I-N-G mac and cheese that will have you wondering why you’ve ever done it any other way. 

Ingredients

• 1 red bell pepper, sliced

• 1 red onion, sliced

• 4 cloves garlic, diced

• 1/2 jar marinara sauce (7 oz)

• 1 box or bag pasta shells

• 1 cup mozzarella cheez (I used Follow Your Heart)

• 1/2 cup parmesan cheez (I used Follow Your Heart)

• 3 1/2 cups oat milk (or unsweetened milk of choice)

• 1 cup raw unsalted cashews (soaked for at least 1 hour)

• 1 Tbsp veggie bouillon (I use Better Than Bouillon) 

• 1 Tbsp miso paste

• 1/4 tsp chili oil (optional, for garnish)

• Italian parsley (optional, for garnish)

Directions

Get the cashews soaking in hot water. The longer the better (an hour or two), but if you don’t want to wait, you can boil them for about 10 minutes instead.

Cook the pasta according to the package, minus 2 minutes (you want it slightly undercooked before combining it with the sauce).

Sauté the onion and red bell pepper on low heat until starting to brown, about 10 minutes. Then add the garlic and cook for another couple minutes until the garlic starts to brown too.

Add the sautéed peppers, onion, and garlic to a blender with the oat milk, drained soaked cashews, veggie bouillon, and pizza sauce. Blend until the sauce is creamy – this could be a few minutes depending on your blender.

Mix the cooked pasta, sauce, mozzarella, and parmesan together into a pot on medium heat, and cook for about 5 minutes (until all the cheese is melted and the pasta is cooked to your liking).

Place in a bowl and top with chopped fresh parsley and some chili oil. Yum!