Vegan Thai Mac N Cheeze

climbing_trees

http://lorimerkitchen.com/2013/11/20/thai-mac-and-cheeze/

I made this last night with spectacular results!

Ingredients
2 cans Coconut Milk
6 teaspoons Red Curry Paste
1/2 teaspoon Salt
1 cup Cashews, soaked
2 tablespoons Nutritional Yeast
12 large Basil Leaves
1 box Macaroni
Instructions

Preheat oven to 350°
In a sauce pan, heat on medium 1.5 cans of Coconut Milk, 2 teaspoons red curry, 1/4 teaspoon salt and 4 Basil leaves. Cook for several minutes, stirring often, until coconut milk thickens
Heat a large pot of water on high until water is boiling. Once water boils, add macaroni and cook until al dente (slightly uncooked). Strain pasta and add it to sauce pan of thickened coconut milk, and toss to coat. Lower heat to a simmer.
In a blender or small food processor, mix cashews, 1/4 teaspoon salt, 4 teaspoons red curry paste, nutritional yeast, and 8 basil leaves. Blend until thick and smooth.( Add more red curry paste depending on spice preference.)
Transfer macaroni and coconut milk to a casserole dish. Pour red curry cashew cream on top and stir, coating evenly.
Cook in the oven for 10 minutes. Garnish with additional basil if desired.

*Instead of macaroni, I used spiralized zucchini. I also added chopped onion, tomato, red bell pepper, and mushrooms to the noodle mix. Accidentally ended up with WAY more noodles/veggies than I intended and they wouldn't all fit in the sauce pan! Instead, I mixed the noodles/veggies with the sauce and baked it in a casserole pan for about 40 minutes at 350F until it was heated all the way through and bubbly. The top got nice and crunchy!