No budget cookbook would be complete without a good macaroni and cheese recipe, so here’s ours.
This isn’t just Mac & Cheese, this is Tricky Mac & Cheese, a recipe perfected by my wife, Debby, many years ago as a way to slip some healthy veg into our kids’ diet.
A strategically selected* pureed vegetable is thrown over the mac and then blanketed by cheese sauce. The result is an incredibly moist casserole that holds up nicely, even in leftovers, and is also pretty good for you.
We used Radiatore (little radiators) for the mac. All those ridges picks up the sauce nicely. If you can’t get Radiatore, Fusilli works good or a noodley pasta like Cavatappi will do the job. Whatever macaroni you use you must undercook it (very al-dente) as you will also be baking it in the oven.
If you have kids you gotta give this one a try.
Need This
1 pound of macaroni (Fusilli, Cavatappi, Radiatore)
1 – 20 ounce package of frozen chopped butternut squash (or rutabaga or turnips)
2 large cloves of garlic – diced
1 – 14.5 ounce jar of creamy cheddar cheese sauce (Prego brand makes a good one as does Ragu)
2 cups of shredded cheddar cheese (or cheddar jack)
Salt
Ground black pepper (or cayenne)
Italian seasoned bread crumbs
Do This
Heat your oven to 400 F.
Put clean cold water into a large pot and bring it to a rolling boil on high heat. Add a good palm-full of salt to the water.
Cook the macaroni until very al-dente (even more al-dente than usual as we will be baking it also).
Drain the macaroni into a colander and immediately rinse with clean cold water to stop it from cooking further.
In a large saucepan, bring water to a boil then throw in the frozen veg. Boil the veg until it gets soft – about 5 minutes. Drain off the water then dump the veg and the diced garlic into a whirlygig. Puree the veg until it looks like Gerber baby food.
Dump the macaroni into a large oven-proof casserole dish with a fitted lid. Add in the pureed veg from the whirlygig and the cheese sauce and mix well. Add salt and pepper to taste, then throw in the shredded cheese and mix well one more time.
Dust the top with the breadcrumbs until completely covered. Hiss a little non-stick cooking spray over the top of the breadcrumbs so that they brown nicely.
Bake uncovered at 400 F (top rack) for about 1/2 hour or until the breadcrumbs start to brown.
Remove from the oven. Cover with the lid and let it sit for about 10 minutes before serving. Serve hot.
Serves 4 (usually with leftovers). My cost approx. $ 5.90 total – about $ 1.48 per serving
*You want a vegetable whose color can easily be masked by yellow cheese sauce. Butternut squash works great, spinach, not so much. GMN