Truffled Mac

Chay Wike

This recipe is inspired by Melissa Clark’s Truffled Mac & Cheese from her book Dinner in French. I’ve made her version several times for my daughter and simply swapped out the pasta and breadcrumbs for gluten free substitutes. However, I really wanted to make a virtually dairy free version as well. I used ghee, which has only trace amounts of dairy, along with yellow squash, cashew nuts, nutritional yeast, and truffle oil. Together these nutrient-dense ingredients make an outstanding and decadent base for a “cheese sauce” without using faux cheese. The result exceeded my expectations. It’s cozy, super creamy, cheesy, and topped off with crunchy chip crumbs.

Yield: Serves 6 to 8
Author: The Kitchen Commune

Truffled Mac

gluten-free, dairy-free, vegan, vegetarian, egg-free, nightshade free, soy free

Ingredients

For the cheese sauce and pasta
  • 1 cup raw cashews
  • ¼ cup ghee (grass-fed butter or vegan butter are ok too), plus more for the baking dish
  • 1 (12-ounce) box gluten free elbow pasta (such as Jovial brand)
  • 4 cups (about 1 pound) diced yellow squash
  • 2 large cloves garlic, chopped
  • 1 ¼ teaspoons kosher sea salt
  • Freshly ground black pepper
  • ½ cup nutritional yeast
  • 3 tablespoons truffle oil
  • 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
  • 1 teaspoon granulated onion
  • ½ teaspoon paprika
  • 3 cups almond milk
For the topping
  • 1 cup plain plantain chip crumbs (such as 1 5-ounce bag Barnana Plantain chips, ground in a food processor into coarse crumbs)
  • ¼ cup nutritional yeast
  • 1 large clove garlic, grated
  • 2 tablespoons truffle oil

Instructions

  1. Place the cashews in a bowl, add boiling water to cover, and soak for 15 minutes. Drain, rinse, and transfer the nuts to an upright blender.
  2. Preheat the oven to 375°F. Use ghee to grease the bottom and sides of a 9 x 13 baking dish and set aside.
  3. Make the topping: In a mixing bowl, combine the chip crumbs, nutritional yeast, garlic, and truffle oil and mix together with your hands. Set aside.
  4. Cook the pasta: Bring a large pot of heavily salted water to a boil and add the pasta. Cook according to package instructions, draining 2 minutes short of the listed al dente timing. Drain and set aside.
  5. In a large saucepan, melt the ghee over medium heat, add the squash, garlic, salt and pepper, and stir to combine. Lower the heat completely, cover, and sweat the vegetables for about 8 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the squash has reduced a little and released some liquid. Transfer the squash mixture to the upright blender, reserving the saucepan.
  6. Add the nutritional yeast, truffle oil, Dijon mustard, granulated onion, paprika, and almond milk to the blender and blend on high for about 30 seconds, or until the mixture is velvety smooth and resembles thick cream. Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary.
  7. Return the sauce to the pot and stir in the cooked pasta to combine. The mixture will be very loose, that’s ok, it will thicken in the oven. Pour the mixture into the prepared baking dish and cover it with the chip crumb topping. Bake for 20 minutes, or until the topping is crisp and golden brown. Remove from oven and let rest for 10 minutes before serving.