Macaroni and cheese doesn't ever happen at our house. Mostly because my son doesn't like cheese and it's kind of hard to hide the cheese in mac n' cheese. Plus, I don't think I ever ate it growing up, so it really isn't something that I think about very often. I came across this recipe and remembered seeing things like this before, where cauliflower puree is used in the sauce and replaces almost all of the milk/cream/cheese, or whatever people usually use in their mac n' cheese. I had 2 heads of cauliflower in my fridge and decided I would try this one out. I used whole wheat shells for the pasta because I couldn't find whole wheat elbows. You cook the cauliflower in boiling water and then the pasta. The cauliflower is pureed with a little bit of cheese and some other ingredients that add flavor, like dijon mustard. I added more cheese than called for because I tasted the sauce and it was a little bland, so I added more cheese and tasted it again.
My family liked this recipe. My daughter whose favorite food is cheese, absolutely loved it. I thought it was really good and a nice way to use cauliflower.
Here is the recipe for Creamy Cauliflower Mac from Mark Bittman
* I used whole wheat pasta
* I added about 1/3 cup more cheese than called for because I pureed the sauce and tasted it and decided I wanted it to have a little bit more cheese flavor
* I would add less Dijon mustard next time
I'm so intrigued by this recipe Mary Ann! I wonder if my husband would miss the cheese? :)
ReplyDeleteLove this dish and will have to try it. It looks delicious and is unique!
ReplyDeleteWhat a great idea to use cauliflower - super way to get kids to eat it!
ReplyDeleteMary
this looks great! I can't wait to try it!
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