Finally a #healthy and #kidfriendly #vegan mac and cheese! This recipe has #hiddenveggies for extra nutrition. It is versatile enough to be #glutenfree and #lowglycemicindex as well. You can use a #highprotein pasta such as one made from chickpeas or edamame for added punch. The perfect #vegancomfortfood ! Just don’t let the kids see you baking the pumpkin ?

Recipe:

1 small -med pumpkin or squash, about 300g
1 cup/200g pasta (can use gluten free)
2 Tbsp vegan butter
1 Tbsp maida or gluten free flour
150 mL coconut milk (unsweetened)
1 tsp haldi/turmeric powder
1/4 cup nutritional yeast (optional)
1 Tbsp mustard
1 Tbsp ketchup
1 Tbsp onion powder
2 tsp salt
1 tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp pepper
1 tsp jeera/cumin powder
1 tsp hot sauce of choice
Panko bread crumbs, about 1/2 cup

Method:
— Chop pumpkin/squash into medium chunks and then bake at 200C/400F until fork tender, about 45 min
— Once cooled, scrape flesh from skin and blend in a blender until smooth
— Cook pasta until al dente, keep aside
— Melt vegan butter, add flour and stir to make a roux
— Add coconut milk and haldi, combine
— Add squash puree, nutritional yeast, mustard, ketchup, onion powder, salt, paprika, pepper, jeera, hot sauce
— Add water if needed to thin out the sauce
— Preheat oven to 180C/350F
— grease an 8×8 dish
— Place pasta and sauce in dish and mix to combine
— Sprinkle with the panko breadcrumbs
— Bake for 30 min until breadcrumbs have browned
— Serve hot!