Vegan Mac N Cheese with BBQ pulled jackfruit

I am back again with another vegan recipe for you all to try out and this time it is a vegan Mac n Cheese with BBQ pulled jackfruit! I got this recipe from BOSH again but through their instagram page so definitely go check that out here.
This macaroni and cheese is the ultimate comfort food that is so desperately needed during January. The January blues are creeping in but I am so desperately trying to holding them back by creating things like this. I am a foodie, I LOVE food and it genuinely brings me happiness and joy and I have always related food to family, my mum and celebrations. If you are feeling the sadness January often brings I recommend creating a delicious dish and sharing it with all your friends and family and I bet you will feel happier.

Ingredients:

For the jackfruit
450g young green jackfruit (I bought mine from Aldi and got the ones in water)
Salt and pepper to taste
2tbsp olive oil
250g BBQ sauce

Mac n Cheese
70g dairy free butter
50g plain flour
500ml plant based milk
200g dairy free cheese
25g nutritional yeast
1tsp garlic powder
1tbsp English mustard
Salt and pepper to taste
400g macaroni

Method:

1. Preheat your oven to 200 degrees.
2. Wash the jackfruit under a cold tap (this stuff is crazy, this was my first time using jackfruit and it looked so much like tuna?? weird and I got a bit scared at first but trust me the end result makes this weirdness worth it) and pat dry.
3. Warm the olive oil in a frying pan, add the jackfruit and salt and pepper to taste and fry this until the jackfruit begins to colour and crisp a little bit. Pour the BBQ sauce and 5 tbsp water over the jackfruit and make sure all the chunks are covered. Put a lid on the jackfruit and leave to simmer and stir occasionally.
4. Melt the dairy free butter in a separate pan, sieve in the flour (or don't I didn't bother) and stir into the butter to make a roux (we getting technical now). Pour the dairy free milk into the pan gradually, stirring constantly (it's an arm workout so be prepared) until the sauce is smooth and creamy.
5. Grate the cheese (I bought already grated cheese because I'm lazy) and add it to the sauce along with the nutritional yeast, garlic powder and English mustard and stirring constantly (you will have arms of steel at this point) until the cheese has melted. Add 6 tbsp pasta water, season with salt and pepper and turn the heat right down.
6. Drain the macaroni and pour it all into the sauce.
7. Pour your cheesy macaroni into your baking dish and then top with the BBQ jackfruit. Put in the oven for 15 minutes or until it's a bubbly goodness.
8. Get out the oven and serve to all your hungry guests or just yourself, I'm not judging.

I wish I had a nicer photo but I was just so excited to eat it that I forgot! But you can always check out my Instagram to see a rather satisfying video of it here. 

Let me know if you try this and if you do I hope you enjoy the cheesy goodness!

Thanks for reading, 

Alice xx 

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