Fajita Spiced Vegan Mac and Cheese

When I was working for a software company in Cambridge one of the things the chef would always make a delicious BBQ Mac and Cheese - it was vegetarian (I wasn’t yet vegan) but he would swirl BBQ sauce into the mac and cheese and every time he made it, it was more popular than any of the other dishes on offer in the canteen.

On the previous blog I had made an attempt at making this vegan but it wasn’t until fairly recently that we managed to level the recipe up a step further - Andreea said to me it would be nice if the Mac and Cheese had some more veg etc. in it because realistically it was just pasta, BBQ and “cheese” sauce, so I combined it with my love for roasted fajita spiced vegetables and this was the end result - I hope you love it as much as I do!

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Fajita Spiced Vegan BBQ Mac & Cheese

Yield: 9/10 slices

Author: Chris Unwin

Prep time: 20 MinCook time: 40 MinTotal time: 1 Hour

A delicious baked BBQ Mac and Cheese with a Fajita kick

Ingredients

• 3 large Bell Peppers (mixed colours), cut into fajita-style strips
• 2 large Red Onions, cut into fajita-style strips
• 1 pack vegan chicken strips (I like Dopsu from TESCO) or 2 flat mushrooms cut into fajita-style strips
• 2-3 tbsp any combination of spices you like - I typically use the Waitrose Deep South Cajun Rub but you could simply combine 1-2 tsp each Cumin, Coriander, Smoked Paprika, Cayenne Pepper and you'll end up with something similar
• Oil (2-3 tbsp)
• 500g Macaroni
• BBQ Sauce (I like Bullseye Classic BBQ Sauce)
• (Optional) Half Block Vegan Cheese e.g. Violife Mature / Cathedral City Vegan Block, grated

For the Cheese Sauce

• 1/2 Cup Cashews, soaked in boiling water for 15 minutes
• 3 garlic cloves, crushed
• 1 tsp each salt and black pepper
• 1 tsp English Mustard
• 2 tbsp Nutritional Yeast Flakes
• 2 tbsp Soy Sauce
• 1 tbsp Apple Cyder Vinegar
• 400ml unsweetened non-dairy Milk (Oat and Soya work well)
• 1 level tbsp Tapioca Starch (or Potato or Corn starch)

Instructions

1. Pre-heat the oven to 200C fan
2. Toss the peppers, onions and chicken/mushroom in a drizzle of oil and the spice mix, then lay them out on a lined baking tray and bake for 15-20 minutes until the onions and peppers have started to brown around the edges
3. Cook the macaroni to 1-2 minutes less than the packet instructions, so al-dente, and drain
4. Blend all the sauce ingredients together in a blender / nutribullet
5. When everything comes out of the oven first put half the veg mix in with the macaroni, then mix in the cashew sauce and grated vegan cheese (if using), stir through
6. Pour the mixture into a baking dish then top with the rest of the fajita veg mix, gently pressing and spreading the mixture out
7. Add a few dollops of BBQ Sauce evenly on the top then using a knife or skewer drag it through so the BBQ sauce almost marbles through the mac & cheese
8. Bake for 20 minutes until a little crispy on top and the mac & cheese should be firm