Kitchen3N

Recipes and food fun from Apt 3N

  • About
  • Gallery
  • Recipes

Creamy Less Cheesy Mac and Cheese

November 13, 2015

IMG_5206Anyone else find themselves questioning their life choices? First world problems, right? I’ve got a roof over my head, food to eat, a wonderful family – so much to be grateful for. But I’m feeling sorry for myself because I haven’t “made it” yet or didn’t pursue one of the more conventional paths of engineering, medicine, or law (not that I have a litigating bone in my body). Of course this comes at a time when most of my high school and college classmates are receiving their secondary degrees and the grass is looking greener on the other side. But I’ve been trying to embody the saying I’ve read recently, “The grass is greener where you water it”. I love my family and would be so empty without them. But I need to reach my professional goals as well. Would love to grow this blog or my little side hustle (custom cakes) but I feel like I’m lacking some guidance. Is it my content? My outreach? Help me out, guys!! Granted I have two little ones, one who is isn’t in school yet, so my resources are limited.   IMG_5195Speaking of little ones, for years I lamented that despite my efforts to make mac and cheese from scratch, my kids preferred the stuff from the blue box. Relieved, since dinner could be ready in a snap if I had the blue box on hand. Affronted, as well. So I sought a solution. The problem was the traditional mac and cheese recipes I followed were quite cheesy. Resulting in a strongly flavored and thick sauce.IMG_5196So, I thought I’d make a bechamel sauce, add in a little bit of cheese at a time until it had just enough thickness and was mildly flavored enough for my kiddos, and voila! I made something that my 3 1/2 year old would lick clean off the plate.   IMG_5199This comes together so quickly, you’ll be like, blue box, who? Granted you have pre-shredded cheese. I use the Trader Joe’s blend of mozzarella, cheddar and jack cheese. It’s wonderful in omelettes, grilled cheese, etc. IMG_5200Throw in some frozen peas with the pasta during the last minute of cooking to make it a complete meal. Or shredded beef/chicken. The sky’s the limit. I just keep the chicken broth on hand in case it gets too thick. IMG_5205  IMG_5215Make this once and you’ll never go back to Panera’s mac and cheese! Feel free to double the recipe if you have more mouths to feed!

Ingredients

  • 2 tbsp butter
  • 2 tbsp all purpose flour
  • 2 cups whole milk
  • 1/2 cup grated cheese (cheddar or I use a combo of mozzarella, cheddar and pepper jack)
  • 3/4 tsp salt plus more to taste
  • dash black pepper
  • dash cayenne pepper
  • 1/2 pound elbows or small shell pasta

Directions

  1. In a medium to large pot, heat about 4 quarts of water over high heat. Let it come to a boil while you prepare the other ingredients.
  2. When it comes to a boil, add a teaspoon of salt and the pasta to the water. Give it a stir and set the timer to 8 minutes (check the time on the box for shells since I used elbows).
  3. Melt the butter over medium heat. Add the flour and whisk together. Allow to cook for 1-2 minutes. Next, slowly pour in the milk, while whisking. Continue whisking, taking care to get all the bits of flour and butter from the bottom of the pan. Lower the heat to a simmer a let cook for 5 minutes. It won’t thicken fully at this point. Make sure the mixture is not boiling otherwise the cheese will curdle*. Turn off the heat (and the heat of the pasta if the timer is up). Add salt and pepper and stir to combine.** Add cheese and stir – now the sauce should be sufficiently thick to coat the pasta.
  4. Strain pasta and add it to the cheese sauce. Serve immediately.***

*I learned this the hard way after ruining two batches during our suite’s Thanksgiving potluck in college.

**Congratulations, you’ve just made bechamel sauce!

***To reheat, add a bit of chicken broth to a saucepan and warm over medium low heat until heated through.

Share this:

  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Google+ (Opens in new window)

Related

5 Comments · Labels: American/Mediterranean, Carb, Dinner, Main, Recipes, Side Tagged: bechamel, blue box, comfort food, cream sauce, creamy, elbow macaroni, mac and cheese, pasta, shells, white sauce

Comments

  1. Urban Begum says

    November 26, 2015 at 2:10 pm

    I’ve been looking for some halal chick stock for the longest! If you don’t mind me asking, where did you get yours from? =O

    Reply
    • kitchen3n says

      November 26, 2015 at 7:02 pm

      I bought it online! Vita cost.com

      Reply
      • Urban Begum says

        November 28, 2015 at 2:16 pm

        Thanks!

        Reply
  2. Dimple@shivaaydelights says

    December 23, 2015 at 7:34 pm

    You have a nice blog

    Reply
    • kitchen3n says

      October 18, 2016 at 4:45 pm

      Thank you, Dimple!

      Reply

Leave a Reply to Anonymous Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

American, Bangladeshi. Savory, sweet. I don't discriminate and neither should you.

Most recently…

Load More...
Follow on Instagram

Social

Subscribe to Blog via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Tags

appetizer beef bengali breakfast butter cake caramel chicken chocolate chocolate chips cilantro clean eating coconut comfort food cookies dessert dinner entertaining fall fruit ganache gluten free halal healthy homemade honest chops honest creations iftar italian pasta pastry pistachio quick and easy dinner ramadan recipe side side dish south asian spinach vegan vegetables vegetarian weeknight dinner weeknight meal whipped cream

Theme by 17th Avenue · Powered by WordPress & Genesis