Not Your Mom’s Mac and Cheese

Macaroni and cheese is the ultimate comfort food, but I always felt it was hard done by, with mushy pasta and bland cheese sauce, so I ramped it up. If you use low fat cheese and 1% milk, you won’t even notice. 

Ingredients 

2 cups dry, whole wheat penne
Couple shakes of salt
1/4 cup unsalted butter
1/4 cup diced onion
1 heaping tsp (and I mean heaping) minced garlic
2-3 shakes Worcester sauce
1/4 cup flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground pepper
2-3 pinches ground mustard
2 cups milk
2 cups shredded cheese (I like low fat Tex Mex or Italian blend)
Shaved Parmesan, bread crumbs, and/or real bacon bits, optional

Method


Combine flour, salt, pepper, and ground mustard in a small bowl, set aside. Spray casserole dish with cooking spray, set aside. 

Preheat oven to 350F. Bring 2-4 quarts of salted water to boil. When water is boiling, add penne and reduce heat to 7.5. Boil, uncovered, for two minutes less than recommended time for al dente. Strain and put in casserole dish. 

While pasta is cooking, melt butter, garlic, onion, and Worcester sauce in a saucepan at high heat.  When it’s melted, add flour mixture and stir constantly until smooth.  Add milk, a little at a time, stirring constantly. Once milk is added, increase heat until it boils. Boil, stirring constantly after one minute, remove from heat and stir in cheese until melted.  Gently combine cheese sauce with pasta. 

Top with bread crumbs, Parmesan, and/or bacon bits, if using.  Bake for 30 minutes, then broil for 1-2 minutes. Let rest for 10 minutes before serving. 

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