Veggie Mac & Cheese
Recipe: Veggie Mac & Cheese
Veggie Mac & Cheese is a nutritious, filling, creamy and delicious version of the traditional Mac And Cheese. Additionally it is the best way to get kids to enjoy vegetables. This recipe is versatile so feel free to add vegetables of your choice. Sometimes I prefer to add a mixture of different cheeses to give it a unique flavour. When the kids were growing up, Veggie Mac & Cheese was a popular weekend meal. It was a perfect way to get them to eat some of their less favourite vegetables. The kids loved it baked – any excuse to enjoy more cheese! Feel free to serve it as it is or bake it with a topping of extra cheese. Also known as Macaroni Cheese, it is a family favourite.
Memories
My first introduction to this famous American dish was around the 1980s. Though this dish is of British origin, it is a quintessential American culinary icon. During our visits to the famous Mombasa Club (known as Chini Club), the menu didn’t offer much back then for vegetarians. Besides a vegetable curry (English version of a curry) the only other dish available was baked macaroni. It was a dish I did look forward to whenever we went to the Club. The basic baked macaroni took on a whole new version in my kitchen when my kids were growing up. I added vegetables to it. Now I cannot imagine enjoying Mac and cheese without vegetables. And yes we did try out the boxed Mac & Cheese when we emigrated to Canada. Absolutely hated it ! Best to stick to my home version and anyway it doesn’t take that long.
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Ingredients Required For Veggie Mac & Cheese
Pasta
Any short pasta will do. I like to use macaroni or ditallini. However, any short pasta available will do.
Vegetables
I have used peas, carrot, corn and green beans (French beans). Feel free to add any veggies of your choice. Broccoli, cauliflower, mushroom, leek, etc.
Garlic
A little garlic adds so much over all flavour. Peel and mince or chop the garlic finely.
Spinach
Can use fresh or frozen. Thaw the frozen spinach before processing it into a puree. I used fresh spinach, about 2 cup fulls. Blanch fresh spinach in hot water till it wilts. Remove from the hot water into an ice bath. (water with ice cubes). Blend to a paste using little water. About ¼ cup or less should be enough. You don’t want the pureed spinach to be watery. I use about ¾ cup spinach puree.
Butter
We need about 1 tbsp butter to make the white sauce. If you don’t want to use butter then replace it with some olive oil.
All Purpose Flour
A little flour is required to prepare and thicken the white or cheese sauce. Make sure you stir the flour all the time till it begins to turn light pinkish in colour. The sauce should not have the raw flour taste.
Milk
I prefer using 2% or 3.25% milk.
Cheddar Cheese
Try and get block cheese and grate it at home. Ready shredded or grated cheese sometimes does not melt properly. If possible try and get white cheddar. If not available, then use any cheddar.
Parmesan
I like to add some grated parmesan to the sauce. Adds an umami flavour to the sauce.
Salt
We will need some salt to add to the boiling pasta and vegetables. Taste the sauce before adding salt as sometimes the cheese can be salty.
Pepper
Add according to your taste. Freshly cracked pepper adds a lot of flavour.
Nutmeg Powder
I like to add a bit of nutmeg powder to the sauce as it adds a lovely fragrant flavour.
Almond Flakes
An optional ingredient. I like to add some almond flakes on top of the baked Mac & Cheese.
VEGGIE MAC & CHEESE
Ingredients
FOR THE PASTA
- 2 cups small pasta uncooked
- ½ cup carrot diced
- ½ cup peas
- ½ cup French beans chopped
- ½ cup corn kernels
- 2 litres water
- 1½ tsp salt
FOR THE WHITE | CHEESE SAUCE
- 1 tbsp butter
- 2 tbsp all purpose flour
- 1 cup milk
- 1 tbsp garlic minced or finely chopped
- ¼ tsp nutmeg powder
- 1 cup white cheddar cheese grated
- ¼ - ⅓ cup parmesan grated
- ¼ tsp salt
- ½ tsp ground pepper
TOPPING
- 1 cup white cheddar cheese grated
- ¼ cup almond flakes optional
Instructions
PREPARE THE SPINACH PUREE
- Add some cold water with ice cubes in a bowl. This is the ice bath.
- If you are using fresh spinach, blanch it in some hot water till it wilts.
- Remove the spinach and transfer it to the ice bath.
- Puree the spinach with little water. I use about ¼ cup.
COOK THE PASTA & VEGGIES
- Peel and dice the carrot the size of peas or corn.
- Cut french beans that are nearly the same size as the peas.
- Remove corn kernels from the cob if you are using fresh corn. Alternately can use frozen corn.
- Bring to boil about 2 litres of water in a deep saucepan.
- Add salt and the uncooked pasta. Follow the instructions on the package for how long to boil the pasta.
- When about 3-4 minutes of the time is left, add the vegetables.
- Drain out the cooked pasta and vegetables in a colander.
- Return the pasta veggie mixture to the saucepan.
PREPARE THE WHITE | CHEESE SAUCE
- Heat butter in a pan over low heat.
- Add the flour and stir till it begins to turns very light pink.
- Take the pan off the heat and add the milk. Mix and return the pan to the heat.
- Keep stirring till the sauce heats up and becomes thick.
- Add the grated or shredded cheddar and parmesan cheeses.
- Mix till the cheese melts.
- Add the spinach puree, salt, pepper and nutmeg powders.
- Mix well.
HOW TO SERVE UNBAKED VEGGIE MAC & CHEESE
- Add the sauce to the cooked pasta and vegetable mixture.
- Mix well.
- Heat it up over the stove top till it becomes hot.
- Serve immediately. Can sprinkle some extra grated cheddar or parmesan cheese and the almond flakes.
FOR BAKED VEGGIE MAC & CHEESE
- Preheat the oven to 180°C.
- Add the sauce to the pasta vegetable mixture.
- Mix well.
- Transfer the mixture into a bake proof dish. An 8 X 8 inch baking tray is perfect.
- Sprinkle grated cheese over and bake till the cheese melts and begins to brown slightly. Or bake for 20 minutes.
- Sprinkle the almond flakes.
- Serve hot with your favourite salad on the side.
Notes
- Add vegetables of your choice. If you want to add sweet pepper, zucchini or mushrooms, cut and saute them instead of boiling.
- You can increase or decrease the amount of cheese used.
- Add fresh herbs if you want to.
- If your sauce turns a bit lumpy, just whisk it continuously to break up the lumps.
- The trick is to have enough fat or oil to cook the flour. Also roasting the flour well prevents from lumps forming in the sauce.
- Instead of spinach puree add broccoli or cauliflower puree.
- Add some chilli flakes for adults.
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A Small Request
If you do try this recipe then please either
- add a comment below,
- send a picture to my email mayuri.ajay.patel62@gmail.com
- tag me as #mayuri_jikoni on Instagram
- or comment on Pinterest @mayuri62
1 Comments
Preetha Soumyan
June 24, 2014 at 8:54 am
though i am not a great fan of cheeses.. this looks delicious. my kids loves these kind of macaronis…Thank u so much for linking to http://abowlofcurry.blogspot.in/2014/06/foodabulous-fest-june-2014-event.html and looking for more