Keep your elbows on the table

For whatever reason, when we started up our CSA two years ago the amount of pasta we were eating at home went down. Way down. I guess the vegetables were so good we just started making them the centerpiece of the meal—not merely a side. The fact the we had just gone vegetarian obviously had a huge impact on this change as well.

Finally it hit me—two years later—while browsing the aisles at the Seward Coop, how long it had been since I'd made a pasta dish at home. At this point we were vegan, and of course the first thing I thought of was everyone's childhood favorite: macaroni and cheese. So, with a little help and guidance from the eternally awesome tome Veganomicon (and a failed veganization of a Mark Bittman recipe), I set about bringing those fond childhood memories back.

Isa's recipe—Mac Daddy as she calls it—is a good one, but I had to jazz things up a bit and tweak the "cheese" sauce recipe a little to get things just right. And to make things easier on people like your relatives or your friends at work who freak out when you talk about eating "macaroni and cheese" and being vegan, I decided a name change was in order too. Needless to say, the rediscovery of this comfort food favorite has brought pasta back to our table again.

Midwestern Macaroni Hotdish

Makes 4 servings

Sauce

• 2 cups water
• ¼ cup all-purpose flour
• 1 tbsp vegetable oil
• ½ tsp garlic powder
• ¼ tsp dried thyme
• 1 tsp paprika
• ¼ tsp salt
• ¼ tsp ground black pepper
• ¾ cup nutritional yeast flakes
• 1 tsp white wine vinegar
• 1 tsp yellow mustard
• 1 tbsp ketchup

Hotdish

• 1 8 oz. box quinoa macaroni
• ½ tsp salt
• ¼ tsp ground black pepper
• 1 tbsp vegetable oil
• 2 tsp white wine vinegar
• 1 cup frozen peas (optional)
• 1 tomato thinly sliced (optional)
• Fresh or dried parsley for garnish

Start a large pot of water boiling and preheat the oven to 325° F while you gather all your ingredients together. When it reaches a boil, cook the pasta according to the instructions on the box. Meanwhile, begin preparing the sauce.

Whisk together the flour and water in a bowl, while you wait for a saucepan to preheat to medium-low heat on the stove. Add the oil to the saucepan, followed by garlic powder, thyme, paprika, salt and pepper. Cook, stirring regularly until it becomes fragrant, about 1 to 2 minutes.

Add the water/flour mixture along with the nutritional yeast to the saucepan, raising the heat to medium. Continue stirring regularly as you bring the sauce to a simmer. It should begin simmering after a few minutes, but feel free to adjust the heat accordingly if it's going crazy or doing nothing at all.

Once the sauce has thickened up nicely, remove the pan from the heat and stir in the vinegar, mustard and ketchup until combined. Cover to keep warm while you assemble the hotdish.

Add the salt, pepper, oil, vinegar and cooked pasta to a 9" x 12" baking dish and stir to combine.

Pour your prepared sauce over the pasta and fold it in along with the frozen peas.

Finish everything off by neatly arranging your tomato slices on top of the pasta and then bake for 30 minutes. By then the sauce should be nice and bubbly and the tomatoes beginning to color on the edges. Broil for a few minutes if you like your tomatoes with a little more color to them, being careful not to burn the macaroni.

Allow to cool a few minutes before garnishing with the parsley.

Throw on your pajamas, dish up some hearty portions, flip on the television and relive your childhood.

Beverage pairing: Pabst Blue Ribbon