This takes on a favorite comfort food dish from Lisa Dawn Angerame’s cookbook Wait, it’s vegan? Makes for a perfect romantic dinner. Make it on date night and serve with a glass of champagne!
do you want:
1 ounce dried lobster mushrooms, soaked overnight, water reserved
For the cheese sauce:
1 cup raw cashews
¾ cup water
2 tablespoons melted coconut oil
2 tablespoons ume plum vinegar
2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
1 tablespoon roasted garlic
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon mild white miso
⅛ teaspoon salt
For the pasta:
Half a pound of uncooked cavatapi pasta
1½ tablespoons olive oil, divided
3 shallots, thinly sliced
1⁄4 cup mushroom soaking liquid, drained well
3⁄4 cup water
2 tablespoons breadcrumbs
what do you do:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place a baking dish on top of a half sheet pan.
- For mushrooms, remove from water (reserved liquid), squeeze to drain and add to a strainer. Wash the mushrooms to remove any grit. Cut into bite size pieces and keep aside. Soak up the reserved liquid with a paper towel and set aside.
- In a blender, add cashews and water and blend until smooth.
- For the cheese sauce, in a blender, add the cashew cream, oil, vinegar, nutritional yeast, roasted garlic, lemon juice, miso, and salt and blend until smooth. Set aside.
- For the pasta, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook pasta according to package directions. Reserving some of the cooking water, drain the pasta, then return it to the same pot.
- In a nonstick skillet over medium-low heat, heat 1 tablespoon oil. Once shimmering, add the shallots and salt and cook until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add chopped mushrooms and stir. Add the mushroom soaking liquid and water and bring to a simmer. Cook, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until the liquid has almost evaporated and the mushrooms are tender, about 30 minutes.
- In pasta bowl, pour mushroom-shallot mixture and cheese sauce. Gently mix everything together, adding a little pasta water to make the sauce silky. Carefully pour the entire mixture into the preheated baking dish.
- In a small mixing bowl, combine the breadcrumbs and remaining oil, stirring until completely combined. Sprinkle over the mac and cheese and bake for 30 minutes, until the top is crisp and the sauce is bubbling. Let stand for at least 10 minutes to cool, then serve.