Mmmm …. pasta and creamy sauce – so many memories from my childhood and the ultimate comfort food.

I know that most of you would be horrified – but I’m pretty sure that if I could, I’d still be happy to attack a box of the scarily orange Kraft stuff!

But sadly, not a very allergy friendly meal (or one that’s very helpful when you are caring for your body! ) … until now!!

I saw this idea on the Stay at Home Mum site and have adapted it  from there.

See below the recipe for a more simple cheese sauce idea. UPDATE: this is the one I use most of the time now, simply because it is quick!

In a large saucepan, cook

• 2 cups of GF pasta until al dente (I used a rice and quinoa blend pasta for a bit more protein)

Then drain, rinse with cold water and place into a large bowl.

Then in the same saucepan add

• 1 small potato, peeled and diced
• 1 large carrot, diced
• 2 celery sticks, diced
• 1 brown onion, finely diced
• 4 cups of water.

Bring to the boil and simmer for about 15 minutes until the veggies are soft.

Drain the veggies and set aside, but retain about 1 cup of the cooking liquid.

In a food processor blitz together, until smooth;

• 1 heaped tbsp Nuttelex
• 1 heaped tbsp tahini
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp dried mild chilli powder
• 1/4 tsp dried paprika
• 1/2 tsp minced garlic
• pinch of black pepper
• 1 heaped tsp of nutritional yeast flakes’
• 4 tsp nutritional yeast flakes’

When this mix is smooth, add the vegetables and then about 1/2 a cup of the cooking liquid. Process until smooth. You want this mixture to be a thick sauce so add a little more water if necessary. I used almost 3/4 of a cup in the end.

Add this sauce to the pasta and mix well. Then transfer to a baking dish.

Cover the top of the pasta mix with,

• 3/4 of a punnet of cherry tomatoes cut into eighths.

In the now empty food processor add the following and process until it turns to a crumbs;

• 1 heaped tbsp Nuttelex
• 1 heaped tsp of Nutritional yeast flakes
• 2/3 cup cornflake crumbs

Sprinkle the crumb mix over the top and then bake in a pre-heated moderate oven for about 25 minutes, or until the sauce is bubbling hot.

I grew up with Mac cheese being served with bacon so there is no way I could serve this without it! I diced 5 rashes of shortcut bacon and fried them, then added to the pasta at the same time as the sauce.

This made enough for all 5 of us for dinner and 2 extra lunch serves.

This is one meal that I make into 2 versions – I usually add some extra veggies, like mushrooms and asparagus for the grown ups.

For a quicker, more simple cheese sauce recipe, but one that still hides veg, I now use this one from my lasagne.

It freezes and re-heats well.

Enjoy 🙂

P.S. Next time you make a roast, have a go at using this ‘sauce’ mix to top your broccoli and cauliflower to make a ‘Cauliflower cheese’.