Mediterranean Mac n' Cheez

Mediterranean Mac n' Cheez
Originally uploaded by Marni Molina

I'm really sorry I've been MIA. I have a lot going on and funds have been pretty tight for us, lately. Needless to say, we've been eating po' and I haven't had much opportunity for food porn and recipe exploration.

I did, however, get to invent a new recipe last week. The idea was to come up with something that's cheap and easy to make, with nothing wasted. I'm calling it Mediterranean Man n' Cheez (yeah, I know that's a typo but it's damn funny so I'm leaving it like that!) and it goes together thusly:

• 16 ounces elbow (or other) pasta
  
• oil to lube pasta
  
• 15 ounce can garbanzo beans, drained and liquid reserved
  
• 1+ cups nut milk
  
• 1/2 cup tahini
  
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
  
• 1/2 - 1 teaspoon curry (depending on how hot you want it)
  
• 1/2 teaspoon celery seeds
  
• 1/2 tsp coriander
  
• 2 tablespoons unbleached flour

1. Cook pasta according to package instructions. When done, drain and toss with a little oil to prevent sticking. While pasta is cooking...
   
2. Drain liquid from garbanzo beans into measuring cup and add however much nut milk required to bring your total amount of combined liquid to 2 cups. My beans drained about 1 cup of liquid, so I ended up adding about 1 cup of nut milk.
   
3. Pour liquid into small saucepan over medium heat. Add tahini and whisk until combined.
   
4. When smooth and hot, add seasonings and garbanzo beans.
   
5. Lastly, sprinkle in flour and whisk to combine. When fully incorporated, immediately pour over cooked pasta and serve.

Yum! So good. And, another excuse to eat chickpeas. Hooray!