Macaroni and CheeseI always thought that making a white sauce (yes, that's what you're doing right up until you add the cheese) was something only "really good cooks" could do. Believe me, I ruined a few batches along the way. I wasn't a really good or really adventurous cook when I started!
Using skim milk and Velveeta cuts the fat quite a bit in this dish, and still gives a nice creamy texture. I enjoy adding in a pound of browned ground turkey to make this a main dish. I've tried this with regular cheddar bagged cheese. I just like the sweetness and gentleness that the Velveeta gives. This is NOT as cheesy as the Velveeta "ultimate" mac and cheese recipes you'll find out there. It's better, if you ask me. Ingredients: 1 pound of dry pasta (elbows, shells, ziti) Water to cook pasta (how do I cook pasta?) salt oil Sauce: 3 Tablespoons flour 3 Tablespoons margarine salt pepper 2 cups milk (skim is fine) 1/4 loaf of Velveeta (1/2 pound) cut into pieces Cooked ground turkey (optional) Directions: 1. Prepare pasta according to package directions. Meanwhile: 2. Melt margarine in a medium to large sauce pan over medium heat. 3. Add flour and stir with whisk until flour begins to cook. Lower heat to avoid burning. Add salt and pepper if desired. 4. Add 2 cups of milk. Reduce heat and stir with whisk often until mixture begins to thicken, then bubble. 5. Still over low heat, add the pieces of cheese and melt, stirring occasionally. 6. Mix sauce and optionally, ground turkey, into drained pasta and serve. Recently, I decided to try something that I had used on another recipe to try and cut a bit of the fat out of this meal. As I was browning the ground turkey, I thought that perhaps I could add the four directly to the meat and then brown the flour with the meat, rather than making a roux. I had done this many times with sausage gravy, so it was worth a try. The results were great! One less pan, a little less fat, same good taste - everyone wins. Of course this won't work at all if you're making a regular cheese sauce without ground meat. Just as a side, because of the small amount of cheese, this dish does not come out as yellow as the boxed kind. (Nothing could, could it?) If I'm feeling adventurous, I add a couple drops of regular yellow food coloring (the same number as "egg shade," as it turns out, to give it a slightly more cheesy appearance. |