Roast Vegetable Mac n Cheese with Cauliflower Sauce

I have been eyeing off this recipe for Cauliflower Alfredo sauce on Pinterest for awhile now.

Which basically means I pinned it many months ago and then never got around to making it plus I was a bit of a non-believer....tasty alfredo sauce.....using cauliflower? Yeah right.....

But as luck would have it I also pinned a recipe for a Roasted Vegetable Spicy Mac n Cheese and the only reason I had avoided making it was the cheese sauce.

Don't get me wrong I love a good cheese sauce, but generally they are not the healthiest option.

At some point I had a light bulb moment, mind you it was a very delayed reaction, and thought why not try the mac n cheese recipe.....with the cauliflower alfredo?!

Possibly one of the best thoughts of my entire life.

Anyway, we made the sauce, it was easy and incredible and smooth and silky and I could pretty much eat the entire batch straight from the blender.

Then we made the mac n cheese and it was easy and incredible and tasty and the panko were beautiful and crispy and did I mention it is like a zillion times healthier then normal mac n cheese?

This sauce can be used in place of Alfredo or even Bechamel in just about any recipe - to alter the consistency just add more or less stock during the blending process.

Cauliflower Alfredo Sauce

500g fresh or frozen cauliflower, diced
4 cups vegetable stock
1 - 2 tbspns crushed garlic (depending on preference)
1 tbspn butter
1/4 cup milk
1/2 cup grated cheddar
1/4 cup grated parmesan
Salt and Pepper

Place cauliflower and stock in a pot over medium high heat and bring to the boil. Simmer for 5-10 mins or until tender. Drain, reserving 1 cup of the stock.

In a fry pan over medium heat, add the butter and garlic. Cook for 3-5 mins or until butter is melted and garlic is tender.

Place the cauliflower, garlic, butter, milk, cheddar and parmesan in a blender. Season with salt and pepper. Add 3/4 of the stock for a thicker sauce or all of it for a slightly thinner sauce. Blend for several minutes or until silky smooth.

You can use this straight away but I usually make it the night before and leave it in the fridge.

Roast Vegetable Mac n' Cheese - Serves 4

1 x head of broccoli, finely diced
1 x zucchini, finely diced
1 x capsicum, finely diced
2 x carrot, finely diced
2 x celery stalks, finely diced
200g macaroni pasta, cooked as per packet directions
Cauliflower Alfredo Sauce (recipe below)
1 tspn Mexican Chilli Powder, plus extra
1/2 cup grated cheese
2 tbspns panko

Pre-heat oven to 200C.

Place broccoli, zucchini, capsicum, carrot and celery in a large baking dish and toss together with 2 tbspns olive oil. Roast for 20 mins.

In a large baking dish, combine the vegetables, macaroni, cauliflower sauce and chilli powder. Top with the grated cheese and panko. Spinkle with some extra chilli powder and season with salt and pepper.

Place under the grill for 3-4 mins or until golden brown.

Enjoy!

Mrs B xx