My Favourite Tray Bake Nachos

At this point, tray bake nachos are my specialty. I love making these for family and friends when they come over, they are packed full of flavour and leave me feeling full and nourished!

Serves 4 ~ vegan and gluten-free

Ingredients:
Cheesy sauce
- ~2 cups pumpkin, cubed
- 1 cup raw cashews
- 1/3 cup nutritional yeast
- 1 tbsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- 1 tsp dijon mustard
- juice of 1/2 a lemon
- 1 cup liquid vegetable stock

Guacamole
- 1 + 1/2 avocados
- juice of 1 lime
- pinch of salt
- pinch of pepper

Beans and mince:
- 1 cup TVP
- 1 cup boiling water
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 2 x 400g cans black beans
- 1/2 cup liquid vegetable stock
- 1 + 1/2 tbsp garlic powder
- 1 + 1/2 tbsp smoked paprika
- 1 tbsp nutritional yeast
- pinch of salt
Charred corn
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 cup frozen corn kernels

Extras
- 1 jar store-bought salsa
- 2 small bags of corn chips (1 large)
- fresh lime wedges
- fresh coriander

Method:
1. To make the cheese sauce, place a pot of water over the stove to boil. Chop the pumpkin into cubes (skin off), and place in the pot of water once it’s boiling. Leave to boil for 20 minutes, before adding the cashews and boiling for a further 2 minutes. Drain and rinse, using cool water to remove some of the heat from the pumpkin/cashews.

2. Transfer the pumpkin and cashews to a high-powered blender, adding the rest of the ‘cheese sauce’ ingredients. Blend until smooth, for about 5 minutes, before setting to the side.
3. Preheat the oven to 180°C fan-forced. To make the beans, soak TVP in water for 5 minutes. Whilst this is soaking, heat a large frying pan over medium-high heat and add 1 tbsp of oil to the pan. Then, drain and rinse the black beans, adding them to the frying pan with the soaked TVP and the remainder of the ‘beans and mince’ ingredients. Mix well for 5 minutes before removing from the heat.
4. To make the corn, add oil and corn to a small frying pan over medium-high heat. Fry for 10 minutes, or until corn is lightly golden.
5. Prepare a large baking tray and evenly spread corn chips across it. Disperse the salsa evenly across the corn chips, before topping with the charred corn and the beans and mince mixture. Place in the oven to bake for 15 minutes.
6. Whilst the nachos are baking, prepare the guacamole by mashing the avocados, lime juice, salt and pepper together in a bowl. Ensure avocado is de-seeded and removed from the skin. Set to the side.
7. Remove nachos from the oven, drizzling with cheesy sauce and topping with guacamole, fresh coriander and lime. Enjoy!