Many people shy away from making homemade macaroni and cheese because it requires that they make a roux (pronounced roo) that’s the basis of a béchamel (French for white sauce, and pronounced bey'-shu-mel) and those skills sound just too scary. If you take your time, keep the heat under your pan down and stir a lot, you’ll be so good at it soon that you’ll wonder why you ever worried.
This macaroni and cheese benefits from the nonfat ricotta and milk making it lighter and easier on the calorie budget, but it’s still delicious.
8 ounces elbow macaroni (high fiber and whole grain brands work great)
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 cup nonfat milk
1 teaspoon dry mustard
a few dashes of cayenne pepper
6 ounces sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
1 cup nonfat ricotta cheese
1 large egg
½ cup parmesan cheese, grated, plus extra for the top if desired
Boil macaroni in plenty of salted water according to package directions. Drain and set aside.
Preheat the oven to 350°F.
Shred the cheddar cheese and set aside.
Grate the parmesan cheese and mix well with the ricotta and the egg. Set the mixture aside.
Make the cheese sauce. In a small saucepan over medium heat, melt butter. Add flour and stir constantly until the butter and flour mixture is a light golden brown. This is the roux and now it’s ready for the milk. Stirring constantly with a fork, pour the milk into the pan. Keep stirring so that lumps don’t form. When you have a uniform mixture, stir occasionally to keep from burning. Add mustard and cayenne. Stir. The sauce, which you can now call a béchamel, will begin to thicken. Add the cheddar cheese and stir until melted and the sauce is quite thick. Remove from the heat.
Butter a 2-quart baking dish. You can grate some parmesan cheese into the dish as well to coat. Add half the macaroni to the dish. Put half the ricotta mixture on the macaroni and pour on half the cheese sauce. Mix well. Repeat with the other half of the ingredients. Stir well to incorporate all the ingredients. Grate additional parmesan cheese on top.
Bake for half an hour or until the cheese is bubbling and the top is lightly browned. Serve immediately.
If you thought this looked yummy,
please“rate” it and make it.
TIP:
Enter the amount, and click "Tip" to submit!
daisyjane
Joan H.
Scylla the Rock
Algis Kemezys
Ralph Tingey
marytkelly
Salon.com
Comments
I do love mac and cheese. I like this recipe.
Thanks for the instructions on making a roux. Mine is always lumpy. Maybe today it wont be.
Brian, we just do what we've gotta do. Mebbe you could call it a "side dish."
I need so much more sleep.
avogana it is indeed yummy. Let me know how it turns out!
Lisa it's lighter in texture than a lot of mac & cheese recipes I've made so I like it and I hope you do too.
Rated
(rated)
Yours looks much creamier than mine ... must be the ricotta. I'm definitely going to try this next time!
Hi Mother, the mustard and cayenne seem to boost the flavor and yeah, I think it's the ricotta that adds some extra creaminess. Let me know how yours comes out.
My trick for preventing lumps is to add the milk in very small amounts at the start, letting the roux absorb the milk the way a sponge absorbs water and whisking to a smooth consistency before adding the next slightly larger dribble, at a certain point the roux has the consistency of a thick liquid and you can just dump in the rest of the milk, whisk it smooth and carry on
luluandphoebe, my daughter says she can taste the ricotta but all I tasted was creamy goodness. The cheddar flavor is less prounounced but the airiness of the dish is what makes it for me.
Thanks for your comments, both of you.
If you never mention bechanel sauce and just say white sauce some of us will say, OH that's how I make SOS. I can do that.
I love the idea of using the nonfat milk and the nonfat ricotta cheese which fits into my need to keep the triglycerides a bit more in check.
Can't wait to try it.
Monte
I recommend the high fiber macaroni too. There are some great brands out there. I just got my cholesterol test results today and through diet and exercise my scores have improved. They weren't bad to begin with, but making them better is always good. Making comfort food a little better for us isn't a bad hobby.