Jalapeño Cauliflower Mac & Cheese

YOU GUYS!!!! If there is one recipe of mine you try this year, I beg of you to make it this one. I know that’s a BOLD statement, but this mac & cheese is so creamy. It takes me back to my childhood days, but offers the sophistication of a cauliflower based sauce that has a bit of a kick from the roasted jalapeños. YUM! If you’ve been around here for a while you know I don’t usually love cauliflower substitutes, so of course there’s a bit of fresh parmesan in here as well! I’m all about what we can add to our plates, and adding the cauliflower was a great choice in this case because wow it’s so good.

I chose to use Banza Elbows for the pasta to keep this dish gluten free, and because I love Banza, but feel free to use macaroni noodle of your choice. Gosh, I can’t wait for you to try this recipe - I hope you love it as much as I did! I was literally up at 6:30AM to make it, and when it was done it was so hard not to just eat it for breakfast. (Don’t worry I didn’t LOL).

Ingredients -

1 small head of cauliflower

3 garlic cloves

2 jalapeños

2 tbsp. unsalted butter

1 cup freshly shaved parmesan cheese

2 tsp. avocado oil

1 box Banza Elbow pasta

Instructions -

Cut cauliflower & place florets in a large pot. Fill with water until florets are covered and bring to a boil. Let boil for 10 minutes (should be very soft). Save 1/2 cup of the water before draining. Sautè garlic cloves with 1 tsp. avocado oil over medium heat for about 5 min.

Preheat oven to broil at 425°F. Brush jalapeños with 1 tsp. avocado oil. Place on a baking sheet and broil for 7 minutes, flip and broil 5 more minutes. Immediately take them out of the oven and place in a bag (I used my stasher bag) so they can keep cooking 5 more minutes. Remove them from the bag and peel the outside skin layer off, it should come off easily. Chop off the top and then cut in half length wise and scrape out the seeds.

Place cauliflower (I only did half at a time), garlic, jalapeños, butter, and salt and pepper to taste in a high speed blender. Start blending and add in the water as you go to make a creamy sauce. Prepare the pasta according to the box, once you drain it put it in a large serving bowl. Pour the sauce over the pasta and add the parmesan cheese mixing immediately. Serve while it’s warm, you’ll want to devour the whole dish!