Jenna's Macaroni and "Cheese"

Wheat & Milk free Macaroni & “cheese”

Jenna loved this and the “cheese sauce” makes a great soup if you thin it with a little broth or rice milk. See here for great spin offs of this recipe.

The recipe is dairy free, wheat/gluten free, soy free, egg free and nut free.

What you'll need:

1 large yellow squash, cut into chunks
1 vidalia onion, cut into chunks
1 clove of garlic, whole
½ large cauliflower, florets separated into smaller pieces
1 medium or large carrot
1/8 cup olive or canola oil
salt/pepper to taste
1/2 cup of clear broth

Cream base:
1/8 cup olive or canola oil
½ cup white rice flour
¼ cup garbanzo bean flour
2 heaping tablespoons tapioca starch
Salt/pepper to taste
Dash of garlic or onion powder, if desired
1 - 2 cups rice milk
In a food processor, finely chop the 1st 5 ingredients – you made need to do this in batches.

Heat 1/8 cup of the olive oil in a large pot with a wide base on med-high heat. Note: Nonstick works best for me. Do not use a frying pan unless you want a big mess on your stove stop!
Saute minced veggies until tender, about 8 minutes. Add salt & pepper to taste. You can use white pepper if you don't want black pepper flecks showing off their color. Stir in broth, bring to a boil, cover & simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from heat & let cool.

While the veggies are sauteing, prepare the cream base. Heat 1/8 cup olive oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Stir in the rice & garbanzo flours and tapioca starch and cook for at least 3 minutes to get rid of the raw flour taste. Add salt & pepper and spices if desired. Continue stirring over medium heat. Slowly whisk in rice milk, about 1/4 cup at a time, stopping & stirring after each addition and giving it a chance to thicken. (Note: You may not need all the milk, you may need a little more. It's ok if you have lumps, everything will be pureed together in the end.)

Puree vegetable medley & cream base in a blended on high until silky smooth. Adjust salt & pepper to taste. Stir into your favorite wheat free pasta & enjoy!

Note: this acts like the real mac & cheese, the sauce will begin to thicken and congeal so it should be served and eaten immediately but you can bring a cold mac & "cheese" dish back to creamy life by heating gently with a little rice milk or clear broth.

I have tried freezing this but it doesn't look very nice when it's defrosted unless you treat it as above. I use Tinkyada rice pasta and it held up very nicely!

Another note: I puree & freeze the "cheese" sauce seperately from the "cream" base so both are always handy for my variations.

Last note: if you are staying away from legumes, you can subsitute more rice flour or an alternative flour (except potato!) for the garbanzo flour. I used it for the protein content. Millet or Quinoa is a good protein source alternative but have a slightly bitter after taste.