Mac & Cheese: Part I

Today dawned rainy and chilly in Brooklyn and ended up sunny and warm(er).  Not the mac & chee weather I was expecting, but I won’t complain.  I didn’t have all of the recipes in front of me when I told Phil the grocery list at for the Coop, so we didn’t do the awesome ones with leeks or sweet potatoes or carmelized onions or various cheese (blue cheese, I’m looking at you).  I did take in all of your ideas and created something that came out tasting good – if not unusual looking.

$30/a Week Mac & Chee

Ingredients:

2.5-3 cups uncooked pasta (we used spiral pasta from the bulk bin)
.5 lb of grated shredded cheese
1 tablespoon butter, plus more for greasing the pan
.5 cup milk (soy)
.5 cup white wine
2 tablespoons whole wheat flour (or AP)
salt and pepper
garlic powder
wasabi powder (optional)
2 teaspoons mustard
paprika
breadcrumbs (I used pumpernickel breadcrumbs from bread leftover from Easter that I toasted and ground with garlic powder in the food processor…let me tell you, pumpernickel is a gooood mac & cheese combo)

To Do:

1. Preheat the oven to 375F and butter a 9×9 dish or whatever you have handy.
2. Cook pasta just before it gets al dente in boiled, salted water. Drain and rinse under cold water. Put in prepared pan.
3. Make a roux by heating better in a medium saucepan and adding the flour. Stir vigorously with a whisk and add milk in a steady stream. When all combined, add the wine (optional – you can just use more milk if you want). Keep stirring and add the cheese gradually. Once the cheese melts, add the spices to your taste. I used all of the spices listed in the ingredients and just kept tasting until I liked it. Use your tastebuds.
4. Pour the sauce over the pasta. Sprinkle some extra cheese on top if you like and add the breadcrumbs.
5. Bake for 45 minutes until top gets nice and crispy.
6. Serve with some veggies if you can! We had a huge spinach salad.

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