MACARONI AND CHEESE

This is one of those dishes that never quite satisfied me coming right out of a box. It never had the flavor or offered the satisfaction that I always craved. This is my answer to "The Boxed" macaroni and cheese but with a lowered fat twist and lots of flavor. I use the reduced fat version of the cheeses that I have listed. If you choose not to use reduced fat cheese, most of these cheeses will run 9 to 12 grams of fat for each ounce. The number following each cheese gives the fat content in grams of fat per ounce of that cheese.

Ingredients

16 oz Macaroni, (any pasta shape that you like will work)
4 oz Romano cheese, 7.0; Peccarino style is best
12 oz Cheese, grated See note 1 below Save ½ cup for topping.
3 cup Milk, skimmed
¼ cup Milk for later
3 Tbsp Flour. See note 2 below
1 tsp Liquid smoke (optional), or more if you like
1 ea Onion, finely diced, (optional)

Note 1: Use any cheese combination you like of Swiss, 6.0; Gruyere, 6.0; Fontina, 6.0; Muenster, 5.0; Havarti, 8.0; and/or Jarlsberg, 3.5. (Cheddar, 5.0; Longhorn, 5.0; and Colby, 5.0; will work, but the oil in them will separate out when cooked).

Note 2: Mix flour with a little water and stir it smooth. Any lumps that you leave in at this point will be there forever.

Salt and pepper if you want. The cheese has some salt in it as part of the cheese making process, so don't over salt.

Topping

½ cup Cheese (save from above cheese)
½ cup Bread crumbs
¼ cup Sliced almonds (optional)

Directions

Cook the pasta according to the directions on the package and drain. Don't get the pasta too done. It should have some firmness to it. It will be cooked again later in the oven. Rinse the pasta in cold water to stop the cooking, drain and return to the pan that it was cooked in.

Grate the cheese, or buy already grated cheese.

Saute the finely diced onion in a little oil (try a little white wine instead of the oil) over low heat until the onion becomes translucent. Keep the heat low so that you don't burn the onion. Add this to the white sauce when you add the cheese.

Meanwhile, put the milk in a separate pan and heat over medium heat, stirring occasionally so it won't burn. Mix the flour with a little water and stir it until it is very smooth and has the appearance of heavy cream. (if you don't get the lumps out now, they will never come out.) Add this slowly to the hot milk while you stir to mix. Continue stirring gently until the mixture thickens. Reduce the heat under the pan. Add the cheeses, onion and all other ingredients (except for the topping ingredients) to the white sauce and stir to mix. Keep stirring this mixture occasionally so the cheese will not burn on the bottom of the pan until the sauce is smooth. Remove from the heat.

Pour the sauce into the pan with the cooked macaroni and gently fold and mix it into the macaroni (if you just stir this, you will have a gummy mess). Place the mixture in a baking dish, add the reserved quarter cup of milk to the baking dish. Spread the bread crumbs mixed with 1/4 cup cheese and some sliced almonds over the top. Place a piece of aluminum foil over the top and bake at 375°F for to thirty minutes. Remove the foil and continue baking until the topping has a slight brown color and the center of the dish is hot and bubbling.

OPTIONS

Mix in warmed and chopped leftover ham, sausage, etc.

Add sauted julienne vegetables such as red and green bell pepper, Italian squash and so on.

Try some mushrooms. These can be sauted with the onion if you like, or just add a can of drained mushrooms to the mix.

VARIATION
(the fast way when you get home late) This version will have good taste, but may not be as smooth as the version above.

Ingredients

16 Oz Macaroni
4 Oz Romano cheese
12 Oz Cheese, grated
Use Swiss, Gruyere, Fontina, Munster, Jarsburg, etc.
(save ½ cup for the topping)
2 cups Milk, Skimmed
1 tsp Liquid smoke (optional)
1 ea Onion, finely diced (optional)
1 Tbsp Butter or margarine


Topping

½ cup Cheese (save from above cheese)
½ cup Bread crumbs
¼ cup Sliced almonds (optional)
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

Grate the cheese, or buy already grated cheese.

Cook the pasta according to directions given on the package. Don't get the pasta too done. It should be cooked tender or al dente. Return to the pan it was cooked in.

While the pasta is cooking, saute the finely diced onion in a little oil (or try a little white wine) over low heat until it becomes translucent. Keep the heat low so that you don't burn the onions. Remove from the heat when they are done.

Add all of the ingredients to the macaroni while it is hot and fold them together. Fold, don't stir or you will have mush. Fold the cheese and other ingredients together. At this point when the cheese has melted, you could serve this to the kids if they are really ravenous. If it is not quite hot enough, put small batches in the microwave for the kids.

Put it in a casserole dish. Cover with aluminum foil and bake it for 30 minutes at 350 F. Remove the foil and continue to bake until the top starts to brown and the center of the dish bubbles up.

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