Gluten Free Macaroni & Cheese

One of the things I am loving about this gluten-free experiment is how many great alternatives there are to all the favorites. For example, I used Bob’s Red Mill Brownie Mix yesterday and made the boys a whole pan of yummy, chocolately brownies. I love these products because I trust them and I don’t have to stress over making everything from scratch.

Another yummy comfort food I made recently was Macaroni and Cheese. Who doesn’t love it? I took my basic recipe and just swapped out the regular pasta for brown rice noodles. I noticed when making a GF roux that the ingredients were much more blobby than when using regular flour, and since we’re aiming for a sauce I had to increase the measurements in milk and butter. It was still very elastic-y, which I find ironic considering what gluten actually is.

GF Macaroni and Cheese

1 cup brown rice pasta, cooked

3 T butter, divided

1 T GF flour

1/4 cup milk

1 cup shredded cheddar, or cheddar blend

2 Laughing Cow wedges

salt & pepper

Preheat oven to 350* and grease a 1 quart baking dish.

Make a roux with the flour and 2 T of butter. Whisk in the milk.

Add the cheese and stir until melted in. Add the last T of butter if needed to make the sauce less blobby. It really depends on what cheeses you use, I suspect.

Salt & pepper. Fold cheese sauce into pasta.

Transfer to baking dish and bake for about 20 minutes or until heated through.

*This is a small recipe that will yield 4 or 5 servings. For a full-sized recipe just double the ingredients.

 

Skillet Macaroni and Cheese

I love homemade macaroni and cheese. My boys prefer the good old-fashioned box kind, and by that I mean Trader Joes or Annie’s organic because I do not do the other stuff, which is why I don’t mind making it for them. But for me, perfect indulgence and comfort food is the homemade mac n cheese. Now, I’m not a crispy-breaded-topping kind of mac and cheese girl either. Just a good, hearty, cheesy, pasta bake that sticks to your ribs (and my thighs, unfortunately)- so I don’t do this often.

Here’s a new recipe I found months ago and have finally made it. It’s definitely not going in the healthy section of my recipe collection- but it was oh so good and super easy to make. In less than 20 minutes you can have an authentic homemade macaroni and cheese dish that even the box lovers will love. (It’s true. Number Two gobbled it up!)

4 T butter

1 small onion, chopped

1/4 tsp oregano

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

1 T flour

3 & 1/2 cups half & half

8 oz. macaroni, or pasta of your choice (3 cups dry)

2 cups sharp cheddar (not the pre-shredded packaged kind. It doesn’t melt well)

Parmesan cheese for sprinkling on top

Melt the butter and cook the onion until soft, about 5 minutes. Stir in the oregano, salt, pepper and flour, and cook for one minute more.

Add the half & half and pasta and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat to low and simmer for 15 minutes or until pasta is cooked through.

Add the cheese and stir until melted. Serve immediately.

*This macaroni and cheese tends to get really thick after sitting out. So refrigerate any leftovers and reheat with some milk to make it smooth and creamy again.

Enjoy!

Saucy Joes & Homemade Mac ‘n Cheese

You’ve heard of Sloppy Joes, haven’t you? Well, this is the same thing only they’re SAUCY not sloppy

I’ve made this twice now and it’s always a hit. An easy, filling, hearty supper without all the fuss. There are two recipes I go by, but today I will give you the one I followed when making this particular sandwich recently.

Saucy Joes

(Click title for easy print recipe) 

1 lb. extra-lean ground beef, turkey or chicken

1 onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 cup spaghetti sauce

4 ciabatta rolls, split & toasted

1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

Brown meat with onion and garlic in nonstick skillet.

Add spaghetti sauce; cook 3 min. or until heated through.

Fill rolls with meat mixture and cheese.

It can’t get any easier than that!

*I’ve used hard rolls  both times I’ve made this simply because ciabatta rolls seem to be hard to come by around here. The hard rolls work just as well, though I do tend to hollow out some of the bread first. This takes away some of the extra (and very un-needed) bread while creating a cradle to hold the loose meat in place better. Win/Win.

So what to make as a side when serving up a hearty sandwich for dinner? Why, homemade Macaroni and Cheese, of course!  There are a lot of recipes out there but I just like to keep it simple.

For this particular dish I just used what I had on hand. It made plenty of mac ‘n cheese for my family of four, with leftovers.

1 cup whole wheat elbow pasta, cooked according to package directions

2 tbsp. butter

1 tbsp flour

2 tbsp. milk

1 cup shredded cheddar blend cheese

2 Laughing Cow light swiss wedges

Salt & Pepper

In saucepan combine butter and flour, whisking to make a roux. Whisk in milk. Add in cheeses slowly, stirring and melting. Add in salt and pepper to taste. Do not allow cheese mixture to scald.

Drain cooked pasta and fold in cheese sauce to combine.

Place in casserole dish (in this case a 1 to 1 1/2 qt. dish) and bake at 350* for 20 minutes or until heated through.

Serve immediately and enjoy your homemade mac ‘n cheese!

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Four Cheese Pasta Florentine with Fresh Tuna

This is a great baked mac n’ cheese Florentine recipe but I like to add fresh tuna to it for a little extra protein, plus it makes a big, one-dish meal with plenty left over for lunches or for halving and freezing for a future quick meal.

3 cups  penne, uncooked

1 -2 Fresh Tuna steaks* or 2 cans tuna, drained

1 pkg.  (10 oz.) frozen chopped spinach

4 oz.   Cream Cheese, cubed

1 cup  Cottage Cheese

4 wedges Laughing Cow cheese**

2 eggs

1 pkg.  (8 oz.) Shredded Mozzarella Cheese

1/4 cup  Grated Parmesan Cheese

HEAT oven to 375ºF.

COOK pasta as directed on package, omitting salt. Meanwhile, cook spinach as directed on package; drain well. Place in large bowl. Add cream cheese; stir until melted. Stir in cottage cheese and eggs until well blended.

*If using fresh tuna you can bake it at 350* with some EVOO and salt & pepper for 10 to 15 minutes per inch of thickness. Steaks should be medium rare- not cooked through or the meat will be too tough. You can also pan-sear the tuna. Once cooked, chop the tuna into bite-sized pieces.

** The Laughing Cow cheese is optional and not necessary if you make this dish sans tuna. However, if you do add the tuna the extra cheese will help keep the fish from drying out the dish and remain creamy.

DRAIN pasta. Add to spinach mixture with mozzarella and tuna; mix lightly. Spoon into 8- or 9-inch square baking dish; top with Parmesan.

BAKE 25 min. or until center is set.