Cauliflower Pesto Mac and Cheese
Mother’s Day is just a couple of days away here in the UK, so we’ve partnered with the lovely people over at Sainsburys to give you some inspiration for how to treat the special ladies in your life! This is how to make our rather spectacular Cauliflower Pesto Mac & Cheese… just serve with a glass of Sainsbury’s Taste the Difference Prosecco, which you can pick up in-store and online, for a dinner guaranteed to make mum the happiest person in the room.
Serves
Ingredients
For the cheese sauce
<item-todo-done>750ml soy milk<item-todo-done><item-todo-done>250ml plant-based cream<item-todo-done><item-todo-done>75g plant-based butter<item-todo-done><item-todo-done>75g plain flour<item-todo-done><item-todo-done>180g plant-based parmesan<item-todo-done><item-todo-done>15g Dijon mustard<item-todo-done><item-todo-done>10g nutritional yeast<item-todo-done><item-todo-done>1 165g jar plant-based green pesto<item-todo-done><item-todo-done> Salt & pepper<item-todo-done>
For the macaroni
<item-todo-done>400g macaroni pasta<item-todo-done>
To serve
<item-todo-done>100g fresh spinach leaves<item-todo-done><item-todo-done>20g panko breadcrumbs<item-todo-done>
For the recipe
<item-todo-done>2 cauliflower<item-todo-done>
Before you start
Preheat oven to 180ºC fan | 2 Saucepans (one quite large) | Roasting dish | Whisk
Cook the cauliflower
- Cut the florets off the cauliflowers.
- Place a pan of boiling water of a medium heat and cook the cauliflower for about 5 minutes until soft.
- Once soft, strain the cauliflower and set aside.
Make the cheese sauce
- Place a large saucepan over a low heat.
- Add the soy milk and cream and mix well.
- In another (larger) saucepan over a medium heat, melt the plant-based butter.
- Once melted, add the flour and stir to combine into a lump.
- Let the flour cook out for a few minutes, before slowly adding the milk and cream while beating constantly with a whisk until smooth.
- Add the plant-based parmesan, nutritional yeast and Dijon mustard.
- Mix well until the mixture comes together.
- Season with salt and pepper to taste then leave to one side.
Cook the macaroni
- Cook the macaroni in a pan of water as per the instructions on the bag, then strain (saving a little of the pasta water).
Bring the dish together
- Fold the cooked macaroni through the cheese sauce, adding a dash of the pasta water if the sauce feels too thick.
- Add the cooked cauliflower, half the jar of pesto and the spinach and cook for a few minutes.
Bake the pasta dish
- Spoon the mac’n’cheese into a roasting dish, dollop over the remaining pesto in the jar and spread it out with the back of a spoon to create a marbling effect.
- Roast for 25 minutes until golden brown.
- After 25 minutes, switch the oven to the grill setting, sprinkle some panko breadcrumbs on top of the mac’n’cheese and grill for a few minutes until the crumbs turn golden and crispy.