I love mac and cheese and there are a few different ways I love to make it. Adding cauliflower to the mix makes it healthier - not healthy, but healthier, at least - and is tasty, too. If you know how to make a basic white sauce, mac and cheese is just a few extra steps.
A few tips: shredding your own cheese instead of using pre-shredded bags is always best. The powder they put on the pre-shredded cheese to prevent caking isn't the best for making a creamy sauce. Note that the measurements for pasta are post-cooking. Be sure to cook the cauliflower and pasta in salted water, as you normally would, to season them. And, the amounts can vary based on what type of cheese you have, what type of milk, and other things, so it's a guidleline: the key is to get a thin sauce so that it won't be too tight after baking. Leave out some of the cheese if necessary, or add more milk, to keep it pretty thin.
Cauliflower Mac and Cheese
5 tbsp butter or margarine, divided
2 tbsp flour
1 1/2 c milk
2 c shredded cheddar cheese
1 c cauliflower, bite-size pieces, fresh or frozen, fully cooked
4 c cooked pasta, undercooked by 2 minutes
1/4 c dry breadcrumbs
salt and pepper
Melt butter in saucepan; remove 2 tbsp and set aside. Stir flour into remaining butter; stir well and let bubble for 1 minute. Stir in milk and heat just to bubbling. Stir in cheese a little at a time to make the cheese sauce; it should be thinner than you want, because it will thicken later. Add salt and pepper to taste to the sauce.
Stir pasta and cauliflower into the sauce. Pour the mixture into a baking dish. In a small bowl, combine the reserved 2 T of melted butter with breadcrumbs and stir to evenly coat the crumbs. Sprinkle the breadcrumbs on the mac and cheese. Bake the mac and cheese in a 350 oven just until it starts to bubble, 5-10 minutes. Then, turn the oven to broil and place the mac and cheese a few inches under the broiler. Broil about 5 minutes or until the top is golden brown. Serve immediately.
Happy eating!
No comments:
Post a Comment