BOSH! Jackfruit Mac and Cheese

 I will never understand why this recipe was removed from Bosh!'s website. 

It's nutritious & satisfying. Even my picky 9 y/o nephew was willing to try it! 

And yet. 

I presume it's to drive people to buy the books. But it isn't in any of them. 

I should know, I have them all. 

But the internet never forgets.... 

Ingredients

For the jackfruit

• 450g young green jackfruit
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 250g good quality BBQ Sauce

For the mac & cheese

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

Method

1. 1.

   You will need..

   Oven preheated to 200’C | Lasagne dish | Grater | Pan
   

2. 2.

   Wash the jackfruit under a cold tap, pat dry with a clean tea towel | Warm 2 tbsp olive oil in a frying pan over a medium heat, add the jackfruit, sprinkle over a little salt and pepper and fry for 3-4 minutes so the jackfruit begins to colour and crisp | Pour the BBQ sauce and 5 tbsp water into the pan and stir the jackfruit so the chunks are well covered | Put the lid on the pan and leave the jackfruit to simmer, stirring occasionally, for 20-25 minutes

3. 3.

   Whilst the jackfruit is cooking, melt the dairy free butter in the pan, sieve in the flour and stir it into the dairy free butter to make a thick, sticky roux | Pour the dairy free milk into the pan gradually, stirring constantly, until the sauce is smooth and creamy

4. 4.

   Grate the dairy free cheese and add the nutritional yeast, garlic powder & mustard into the pan, stirring constantly, until the dairy free cheese has melted and combined with the sauce | Add 6 tbsp of pasta water to the pan and stir it into the sauce | Taste the sauce, season with salt and pepper and turn the heat of the stove right down.

5. 5.

   Drain the cooked macaroni with a colander and pour into the cheesy sauce and mix together

6. 6.

   Pour the contents of the pan into a baking dish. Top with the pulled BBQ jackfruit and put in the oven at 200’C for 15 minutes or until bubbling. Remove the roasting dish from the oven | Serve the Loaded Jack Mac with a side salad, garnish with chives

Vegan Nanaimo

 I'd literally never heard of these until we went to a VR parkrun in Winchester, long before the pandemic. 

They're Canadian in origin, and are biscuity, chocolatey, coconutty, custardy goodness. 

I know we ALL hate it when people write reams and reams before the recipe, so I'll get straight into it. 

Ingredients

Base

200g digestive biscuits (you can use hobnobs etc, depends on what you have)

150g sunflower margarine

100g desiccated coconut

50g ground almonds

40g cocoa powder

60g caster sugar 

Custard layer

60g Flora Plant Butter at room temperature(essential if you want a sturdy custard, but you can use margarine and just reduce the milk if you're not fussed about structural integrity)

250g icing sugar

3tbsps custard powder (Birds is vegan!)

3tbsps plant based milk

Chocolate topping

200g plain chocolate

3tbsps sunflower margarine

Method

1. Start by lining a square brownie tin with cling film (this makes it easier to turn out. If you have a silicon pan, definitely use it).
2. Melt the margarine in a pan on a low heat, once melted, stir in the cocoa powder and sugar until fully combined
3. Meanwhile, crush the biscuits with a rolling pin, add to a big mixing bowl along with ground almonds and coconut. 
4. Combine all base ingredients, spoon into prepared tin and press down to make an even layer. Freeze for at least an hour.
5. While that chills you can crack on with the custard. Literally all you need to do with this is put all the ingredients in a bowl and mix with an electric mixer. Then once the base is chilled, spread evenly over the top, and then back into the freezer for an hour.
6. Final stage! Break your chocolate into chunks, and put it in a bain-marie (bowl over a pan of boiling water to us lay-folk) along with the margarine, melt, stir and then pour onto chilled layers. Back in the freezer for at least half an hour, and then you can eat it! I'd recommend cutting it into 16, but 9 works too. Top tip - keep it in the fridge unless you want it to go squidgy.

I have tried out lots of different variations of this, but the above recipe is has turned out perfectly every time.