BETTER THAN MAC-N-CHEESE: ORECCHIETTE WITH ROOT VEGETABLE SAUCE

Cheesy? Dairy-free? Lowfat? Vegetarian? Vegan? Gluten-free? Yeast-free? Totally delicious? Easy? All of those is what this recipe is! Just make this - you're going to love it! I've served it plenty of times to my dairy- and dairy-free friends, no one can tell that there's not a morsel of cheese in this mac-n-cheese.

I used orecchiette but any short-ish pasta with a texture that allows sauce to cling on to will do: Maccheroni, fusili, rigatoni, radiatori, conchiglie, cavatelli, casarecci, gemelli, ruote... whatever strikes your fancy. Or whatever you've got waiting to be cooked... or whatever the market has for you.

Orecchiette with Root Vegetable Sauce

Makes: 6 generous servings

Sauce:

- 4 cups water

- 1/2 cup raw cashews

- 1 shallot
- 2 medium red or yellow potatoes
- 3-4 small (2 medium) carrots
- 1 medium yellow or white onion
- 5 cloves garlic
- 1 tbsp. Dijon mustard
- 1 lemon, juiced
- 1 tsp. black pepper
- 2 tsp. crushed red pepper

- 2 tsp. good quality salt

- 1 tbsp. olive or grapeseed oil

Pasta:

- 4 quarts water

- 16 ounces orecchiette

Topping:

- 2 slices of bread, torn into large pieces

1. Soak cashews in 1 cup water.

2. Cut all the vegetables except garlic into roughly evenly sized pieces.

3. Bring 3 cups of water to a rolling boil in a large saucepan.

4. Add the cut vegetables and 4 cloves of garlic to the boiling water. There's no need to cut the garlic, add the cloves whole.

5. Bring everything to a boil.

6. Lower the heat to medium-high and cook until vegetables are soft.

7. Remove the vegetables from the heat and allow to cool almost completely.

8. Do not drain vegetables.

9. Add the cashews, 1 clove of garlic, cooked vegetables and water, salt, and all the seasonings to a blender.

10. Blend on high until everything is a smooth paste. SAUCE!!

11. Preheat oven to 350 F/180 C.

12. Bring the 4 quarts water to a rolling boil.

13. Add the orecchiette and cook until al dente. Thoroughly drain the pasta.

14. Process the bread in a food processor or blender to make breadcrumbs.

15. Mix the drained pasta with the sauce and put in a 9 in. x 13 in. baking pan. I prefer a glass or ceramic pan but metal will do I suppose.

16. Top with the breadcrumbs and bake for 30 min. or until the sauce starts to bubble.

17. Remove from the oven and enjoy!

Notes:

1. Make the sauce ahead of time and thin if required before mixing in cooked pasta.
2. Make this gluten-free: use gluten-free pasta and breadcrumbs.

3. Mix in other vegetables along with the sauce and pasta: kale or chard torn into pieces, spinach, lightly steamed broccoli, or even cauliflower florets.

4. Make it vegan: make sure to use eggless pasta.