Vegan Pumpkin Mac and Cheese

Serves: 6 Prep: 45_minutes Cook: 1_hours

Info

This pumpkin filled mac and cheese is perfect when you need a little bit of comfort food. By blending the pumpkin with a little stock you get a creamy, smooth sauce that makes this dish just as good as the traditional version. Combined with our organic wholegrain macaroni, we're sure there will be seconds all round.

Ingredients

1 small pumpkin (1.2kg) (or butternut squash)

Biona Organic Olive oil

2 onions

4 cloves of garlic

50g vegan spread

100g Vegan cheddar cheese

70g Vegan Parmesan cheese

100g plain flour

1.2 litres oat milk

1 whole nutmeg, for grating

500g Biona Organic macaroni

150g stale sourdough bread

½ a bunch of fresh thyme (15g)

100g Vac-packed chestnuts

Method

Preheat the oven to 180ºC.
Trim and peel the pumpkin, halve lengthways, then scoop out and discard the seeds.
Chop into rough 2cm chunks and place on a large baking tray.
Drizzle the pumpkin with 1 tablespoon of oil and season with sea salt and black pepper. Roast for 40-50 minutes or until golden and caramelised.
Peel and finely chop the onions and garlic. Melt the spread in a large, deep pan over a medium heat, then add the onions and garlic and cook for 10 minutes or until soft and golden. Finely grate all of the cheese.
Reduce the heat to low and stir the flour into the onions and garlic. Whisk in the plant-based milk, a little at a time, until the sauce is smooth and glossy.
Add two-thirds of the cheese to the pan, stir until melted, then grate in a little nutmeg and season to perfection with salt and pepper. Simmer very gently for a further 5 minutes or until thickened, stirring occasionally.
Cook the macaroni in a large pan of boiling salted water for 2 minutes less than suggested on the packet instructions. Drain.
Tear the sourdough into a food processor, strip in the thyme leaves, add half the chestnuts. Blitz to fine crumbs.
Smash the cooked pumpkin up in the tray using a fork. Spoon into the cheese sauce and stir well.
Fold the cooked pasta through the sauce, then tip into a 30cm x 40cm baking dish. Sprinkle over the remaining cheese and the breadcrumbs, crumble over the rest of the chestnuts and drizzle with a little oil.
Bake for 30-35 minutes or until golden and bubbling. Leave to stand for 10 minutes before serving. Serve with steamed greens.