BBQ Jack Mac

Comfort food is big in my life right now - really, everyone’s lives right now, am I right?

Recipe

BBQ Jackfruit

• 1 can jackfruit, drained and shredded with hands

• *1/2 bottle Sweet Baby Ray’s Barbecue Sauce

• *3 tsp. cumin

• 1 tsp. red pepper flakes

• 2 tsp. olive oil

• 1/2 red onion, sliced

• 1 green pepper, sliced

• 1 cup vegetable stock

Cheese Sauce

• 2x this cheese sauce recipe from Ela Vegan

• *2 boxes of short pasta noodles

Process

BBQ Jackfruit

1. Break the jackfruit into smaller shreds with your hands. Place into a tupperware container.

2. Add the BBQ sauce, cumin and red pepper flakes. Stir with a fork and ensure that every piece of jackfruit is coated and thoroughly mixed.

3. *Cover on the container and place it in the fridge for 4+ hours to marinate.

4. When you’re ready to cook the jackfruit, warm the olive oil in a frying pan over medium heat.

5. Add the red onion and green pepper and pan-fry for 5 minutes.

6. Add the BBQ jackfruit and vegetable stock and bring to a light simmer.

7. *Stir every few minutes and continue breaking down the jackfruit with a spatula, until the jackfruit absorbs the stock.

Mac & Cheese Prep

1. Cook pasta noodles according to package directions.

2. *Prepare cheese sauce from Ela Vegan’s recipe.

3. Scoop the mac and cheese into a bowl and top with the BBQ jackfruit mix.

*Notes

• Sweet Baby Ray’s - This is my go-to barbecue sauce because it’s what I grew up with. BUT pretty much any style of barbecue sauce would work - take your pick. Lately when I make this, I’ve been digging the Carolina style BBQ sauces that are more vinegar-based, because it gives a nice bite against the creaminess of the cheese.

• Cumin - I added cumin to this recipe because as much as I love that sweet baby who is Ray, this sauce is very sweet. I wanted to add a warmer spice to the sauce to round it out. When I say “warm”, I mean a spice that adds depth and isn’t necessarily spicy, like cinnamon or paprika. Damn, paprika’s a good idea; I’ll add 2 tsp. of that next time.

• “Short” noodles - Because they’re certainly not long….Any brand/style of pasta works for this. I wanted to make a lot of this recipe so I used two boxes of shorter noodles. Using two styles of pasta just seemed fun.

• Marinating time - I’ve marinated jackfruit for as little as 2 hrs and as long as 24. I think that marinating for at least 4 hours is the sweet spot.

• Jackfruit absorbing the stock - This comes down to a personal preference. If you want saucier jackfruit, don’t let it cook as long. If you want drier jackfruit, continue simmering/stirring the jackfruit in the stock until it’s absorbed to the texture that you want.

• Ela Vegan’s cheese sauce - Ela Vegan is an amazing vegan cook, and this cheese recipe is the best one I’ve found so far. I have been tinkering with my own mac and cheese, but I don’t have it down-pat yet -but oh, just you wait!

I wanted something that would be absurdly satisfying, something more than just the generally delicious unami flavor of the original mac and cheese sauce. I knew that it would pair so well with something more acidic, like bbq.

So I decided to finally use the can of jackfruit that had been sitting in my pantry for two years (dead serious) because it’s used as a substitute for shredded pork. And it worked! So well!

Another cheer for us crafty vegans.