Carrot miso mac
Description
Mac n cheese is the ultimate comfort food at any time of year. In winter, it hits an even sweeter spot. This veg, boosted twist offers the same look and texture, to my mind, as boxes of Kraft did when I was a child growing up in America. We ate a lot of amazing homegrown food cooked from scratch, but there were also plenty of packets and boxes such as Hamburger Helper and crinkly foil, wrapped parcels of bone, dry waves of ramen noodles with their tiny sachets of salty seasoning. This mac dishes out a rich lick of nostalgia, but, to go with it, there’s a delicious dose of immune, boosting nutrients, too.
Ingredients
- <ul><li>4 carrots (total weight about 500g)
- 200g cashews
- water
- vegetable stock
- or Gut healing veg stock
- to cover
- 300g wholegrain macaroni
- or gluten
- free elbow macaroni
- or 600g previously cooked and cooled pasta
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 tablespoon miso
- or to taste
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- or to taste
- 2 garlic cloves
- peeled
- pinch of cayenne pepper
- or chilli powder (optional)
- sea salt and freshly ground black pepper</li></ul><p>To serve </p><p>4 tablespoon breadcrumbs (optional)
- or crushed cashews</p><p>smattering of herbs
- such as coriander
- a mix of microgreens or thyme</p>
Instructions
- 1
- Cut the carrots into 1cm (or thinner) slices. Tumble into a saucepan with a pinch of salt and the cashews. Pour in enough water or stock to just cover. Bring to the boil, reduce the heat, pop a lid on and simmer for 15–20 minutes or until the carrots are fully tender.
- 2 Cook the pasta according to the packet instructions. If using cooked and cooled pasta, simply refresh it in a pot of boiling water and drain after 1 minute, or as soon as it has warmed through. Toss with the oil.
- 3
Blend the carrots, cashews and their liquid with the miso, mustard and garlic. Taste, season and add more miso and/or mustard and a pinch of cayenne pepper or chilli powder, if needed.- 4
Fold the carrot sauce through the cooked and drained pasta. I love serving this in a baking dish topped with breadcrumbs or crushed cashews and grilled until brown, then scattering over a fresh pop of herbaceous greenery.This stunning recipe comes from former MIH teacher Rachel De Thamples new cook book Winter Wellness.
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