AD. This post is in conjunction with Violife but all thoughts are my own
I don’t know about you but Macaroni cheese is my ultimate go to comfort food. Whether you’ve had a bad day, need a hearty meal or something to warm you up on a cold day, macaroni is the perfect choice. My son and I both have a dairy allergy so can’t have your average macaroni cheese, we haven’t let that stop us though. Substitute milk for a dairy free milk and your cheese for a dairy free cheese and you’ll not even notice the difference!
Violife are our most favourite vegan cheese brand and they’ve got quite the range! Violife cheeses are free from dairy, preservatives, casein, lactose, gluten, nuts and soya. They are based on coconut oil and are fortified with Vitamin B12.
Our favourite for sandwiches are the original vegan cheese slices. Two slices are the perfect amount of cheese for a sandwich (with a little bit left over for nibbling while you make!) The cheese blocks or pregrated cheese are perfect for melting into sauces, on pizza or over baked potatoes. They also have an Epic Mature if you prefer a stronger cheesy taste. We also love their cream cheese for dipping breadstick or spreading on crackers. You can check out the Violife website to see their full range, there’s something for everyone and they’re stocked at most supermarkets like Sainsbury’s, Tesco’s and Asda.
I’ve put together my favourite Macaroni Cheese recipe below but if macaroni isn’t Violife have tones of other vegan recipes on their website to give you some inspiration.
You can cook this macaroni cheese two different ways. Either eat as pasta with a creamy cheesy sauce or you can pop it in a casserole dish with a sprinkle of violife grated cheese on top and bake in the oven for around half an hour for a lovely crispy pasta bake.
The best thing about this recipe, it’s safe to freeze! Just cool down your cheesy pasta, place flat in a ziplock bag and pop in your freezer. It’ll last about 3 months. It’s lovely to have a quick but hearty meal ready and waiting to be popped in the oven on one of those busy days where you know you aren’t going to have time to be stuck in the kitchen. You don’t even need to defrost before cooking!
Vegan Macaroni Cheese
Ingredients
- 1 Pack Violife Original Flavour Vegan Cheese (or Epic Mature if you like an extra oomph)
- 250 grams macaroni pasta
- 1 Pint almond milk
- 2 tsp corn flour
- mushrooms (optional)
Instructions
- Boil pasta in salted water for around 10 mins until cooked. Drain and leave in a colander until needed
- While your pasta is boiling put your almond milk on to heat, you do not want it to boil just be steaming hot
- Make a paste in a cup using cold water and corn flour, stir into the steaming almond milk and keep stirring until your milk becomes a thicker sauce like consistency
- Add your grated Violife cheese little by little to your sauce. Taste to confirm you’re happy with the flavour then remove from heat
- If you are adding mushrooms fry these in a pan until the juices disappear
- Mix your pasta (and mushrooms) into your sauce
- You can either eat as is or can pop in a casserole dish with some grated Violife cheese on top and cook in the oven on 180 degrees for around half an hour until the top is crispy
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