Mac ’n’ Cheese with Lobster Mushrooms Recipe

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Mac-n-cheese is the epitome of vegan cooking and an essential menu item in vegan restaurants because everybody craves pasta and cheese, right? This Lobster mushrooms recipe with mac n cheese will blow your mind for sure.

It’s an elegant and elevated twist on the famous dish thanks to the use of lobster mushrooms–probably the most interesting vegan ingredient in this recipe!

Lobster mushrooms have a reddish-orange hue and somewhat resemble cooked lobster meat and have a subtle seafood-like taste.

With extra rich vegan cheese sauce and roasted garlic added, this goes beyond the basic version. You can make it for a romantic dinner for two with a glass of champagne.

How to Make Lobster Mushrooms Recipe with Mac & Cheese

Dairy-Free

Servings: 4-6

Ingredients

For The Lobster Mushrooms

• 1 oz. dried lobster mushrooms, soaked overnight in water

Cheese-like Sauce

• 1 cup cashew nut milk
• 2 tbsp coconut oil, refined
• 2 tbsp nutritional yeast
• 1 tbsp roasted garlic, mashed
• 2 tbsp plum vinegar
• 1 tbsp miso
• 1 tbsp lemon juice, squeezed
• Dash of salt

For the Mac and Cheese

• ½ pound uncooked tubular pasta (cavatappi)
• 3 shallots, sliced thinly,
• ¼ cup liquid from mushroom soaking, strained
• ¾ cup water
• 2 tbsp breadcrumbs

Directions

1. To cook the mushrooms, take and squeeze them out of their soaking liquid and place them on a strainer. Rinse the mushrooms and take off any grits. Cut into bite-size bits and keep them aside.
2. Strain the mushroom-soaking liquid through kitchen paper and keep it aside. To cook the macaroni, fill a big pot with water and bring to a boil. Cook according to the directions on the package.
3. Drain the macaroni, keep some water, and return into the same pot.
4. To prepare your cheese sauce, add the oil, cashew cream, yeast, roasted garlic, vinegar, miso, and salt to a mixer. Process until smooth and creamy. You can make this vegan cheese in advance in the fridge for up to 3 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months. In case it has gotten thicker, add a bit of water and combine well.
5. Preheat your oven to 350F. Put a 3-quart baking dish over half a sheet dish. Heat the tablespoon of oil in a cast-iron or nonstick pan. Once it starts bubbling, add the shallots and salt and saute until clear, for about 5 minutes.
6. Place the sliced mushrooms onto the shallots and whisk around. Add in the reserved mushroom liquid and water and allow to simmer. Simmer uncovered, occasionally whisking until the mushroom liquid has steamed off and the mushrooms have tenderized.
7. Pour the shallots/mushroom mix and the prepared cheese sauce over the macaroni. Gently combine everything together with tongs. Add a bit of water if necessary to make the sauce nice and silky.
8. Transfer the mixture to the baking dish. In a separate small bowl, mix the breadcrumbs with the ½ tbsp oil, working everything together until the oil is completely blended with the breadcrumbs. Add to the top of the macaroni and cheese mixture.
9. Bake in the oven for half an hour or until the top is crunchy or golden brown. Let cool down for 10 minutes.

Notes:

You can find dried lobster mushrooms both online and offline. They are easy to recover; however, opinions on the use of mushroom liquid vary. On the downside, there may be gritty bits remaining.

To avoid that, strain the mushroom liquid through a paper towel (once or twice)  and use it in the cheese sauce or keep it out and replace it with water or vegetable broth.

Like and share if you liked this recipe; also, write me in the comments about how this vegan lobster mushrooms recipe with mac n cheese turned out.