Makeover Broccoli Mac and Cheese

Cover of Lighten Up, Y'all the James Beard Award-winning book by Chef Virginia Willis

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From the familiar blue and white box to fancy eight-cheese combinations, Americans can’t seem to get enough of mac and cheese. It’s rich, simple, and satisfying, friendly and familiar, but never dull. I’ll tell you a secret. For years, I didn’t have a microwave, but if I felt down in the dumps, my food sin was frozen Stouffer’s Macaroni and Cheese. I would go to the store to buy it, remove the pasta Popsicle from the plastic container, transfer it to a baking dish, and bake it in the oven for the suggested hour. I knew how ridiculous it was and that I could have made far better in the same amount of time. Let me just say that macaroni and cheese will make you do crazy things. Instead of making a béchamel, I whisk flour into low-fat milk to make a slurry, and I sub out some of the cheese with low-fat cottage cheese. The end result is that this macaroni makeover is equally creamy and comforting, but without the crazy calories.

Course: dinner, Main Course, Side Dish

Cuisine: American, Southern

Diet: Low Fat

Keyword: casserole, mac and cheese, macaroni

Servings:

Calories: 161kcal

Author: Virginia Willis

Ingredients

cup shredded 50 percent reduced-fat extra-sharp Cheddar cheese   4 ounces
¾ cup shredded 75 percent reduced-fat extra-sharp Cheddar cheese 3 ounces
2 tablespoons panko Japanese bread crumbs
½ teaspoon paprika
1¾ cups 2 percent milk
3 tablespoons unbleached all-purpose flour
1 cup low-fat cottage cheese, pureed
½ teaspoon dry mustard
Pinch freshly grated nutmeg
Coarse kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
8 ounces 2 cups whole wheat elbow macaroni
12 ounces 4 cups broccoli florets and stems

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Instructions

Preheat oven to 450°F. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Coat an 8-inch-square (2-quart) baking dish with cooking spray. Combine the two cheeses. Mix ¼ cup of the cheese mixture, the bread crumbs, and paprika in a small bowl. Set aside.
To make the cheese sauce, heat 1½ cups of the milk in a large heavy saucepan over medium-high heat until simmering. Whisk remaining ¼ cup milk and the flour in a small bowl until smooth; add to the hot milk and cook, whisking constantly, until the sauce simmers and thickens, 2 to 3 minutes.
Remove from heat and stir in the remaining 1½ cups of the cheese mixture and the pureed cottage cheese until melted. Stir in the dry mustard, and nutmeg, and add salt and pepper to taste.
Cook pasta according to package instructions. In the last 3 minutes of cooking, add the broccoli florets. Drain well and add to the cheese sauce; mix well. Spread the pasta-broccoli mixture in the prepared baking dish; sprinkle with the bread crumb mixture. Bake until bubbly and golden brown, about 20 minutes. Remove to a rack to cool slightly. Serve warm.

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