“OH this is so Good – Oh this is soooooooo good. . . FORGET THE DIET.  Favorite of mine.  Use Penne or Mostaccioli.  MAKING sure you don’t skimp on cheeses or breading! Let it sit to set before slicing!”

Those are the words STRAIGHT from the excited mouth of Hj who posted this recipe in our book A Taste of Utica

On page 109 you will find this recipe for a good old time favorite “Mac n Cheese”. 

Now I have to admit, macaroni and cheese has never been one of my favorites but this recipe gives it texture and a whole lotta taste.  It really is delicious.  Note:  I used half and half in place of heavy cream and 2% milk instead of whole milk. 

Makes a 9 x 13 tray of sliceable Macaroni and Cheese Utica style.

• 1 lb of Penne or Mostaccioli pasta
• 2 cups heavy cream
• 2 cups whole milk
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 2 eggs
• 2 tsp all purpose flour
• 2 tsp Kosher salt *Be careful with the salt – cheese is very salty.
• 1 tsp ground white pepper
• dash garlic powder to taste
• dash cayenne pepper to taste
• grated ground nutmeg – just a few quick grates
• 2 cups Fontina cheese, shredded and divided
• 1 cup fresh mozzarella, shredded and divided

Combine and mix, then sprinkle of the top:  1 cup of bread crumbs plus 2 TBS fresh parsley-minced.

Preheat the oven to 450 F.  Coat a 9 x 13 baking dish with non stick spray.  Whisk the cream, milk, sour cream, eggs, flour, seasonings together in a large bowl while you cook the pasta according to the package directions. 

Stir in 1 cup of Fontina cheese plus 1/2 cup of the mozzarella cheese into the cream-milk mixture. 

Add the cooked, rinsed, drained pasta to the bowl and stir well to coat.  Transfer to your prepared 9 x 13 dish.

Sprinkle with remaining cheeses.  Top with the parsley-breadcrumb mix. 

Bake until cheese is bubbly and crumbs are golden,  about 30 minutes.  Let casserole rest for 10 minutes before slicing and ENJOY!

“My sister and I were great fans of Kewpee’s.  Do you remember the waitress who looked like Elizabeth Taylor!”  memories by Rosalie

Are you a fan of Mac N Cheese?  If so, please share your favorite recipe whether it’s one you make yourself, a friend or family member makes or one you get at a really good restaurant. I’d love to hear about it.

Next week:  Italian Style Polenta Casserole.  Hmmm…. should be interesting. Ted and I have rarely enjoyed Polenta but next weeks recipe DOES look good!

Is there really anything better than baked pasta? I mean…think Lasagna? Oh yum! This recipe wasn’t too far off from a lasagna come mac-n-cheese dish. It was really cheesy but had tomatoes in the sauce as well. Not sure how you could possibly go wrong with this dish.

The recipe from our CEimB group was chosen by Lindsey of 71 Cookbooks. She sure knew how to pick ‘em.

The original recipe didn’t  include mushrooms, but that never stopped me from adding those little fungi into a dish. At Christmas time, a very dear friend gave me a shiitake mushroom log from which I grew my own shiitakes. They were ready just in time for this pasta dish.

Ingredients

Ø 1lb whole wheat pasta (I used Elbows because they’re FUN and the dish was cheesy like Mac and cheese because it IS 4 cheese pasta…)

Ø 1 ½ cups Fat Free cottage cheese

Ø 15 oz part skim ricotta cheese

Ø 8 oz shredded mozzarella cheese – divide in half

Ø 3 TBS parsley, chopped

Ø 1 tsp Italian seasoning

Ø 1 TBS olive oil

Ø ½ large onion, chopped

Ø 4 tsp minced garlic

Ø 15 oz crushed tomatoes

Ø 8 oz tomato sauce

Ø 1 tsp dried oregano

Ø 1 sprig fresh rosemary, fronds only chopped

Ø 1 large basil leaf, torn

Ø ½ tsp red pepper flakes

Ø ¾ tsp salt

Ø ½ tsp black pepper

Ø 8 oz shiitake mushrooms, chopped

Ø ½ cup Parmesan Romano cheese

Preheat the oven to 400 F. Spray a glass baking dish, 9 x 13 size, with non-stick spray.

In a bowl, mix the cottage cheese, ricotta, ½ of the mozzarella, parsley, Italian seasoning. Set aside.

Cook the pasta al dente – about 2 min. less than what it says on the pkg. Drain.

Heat the oil over med. heat in the pot that you just cooked the pasta in (saves on having to wash more pans) and then add the onion. Cook about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook 30 seconds. Add the tomatoes, sauce, oregano, rosemary, basil, pepper flakes, salt and pepper. Cook at a simmer for 10 more minutes. Turn off heat and add the cottage cheese mixture plus the mushroom pieces.

Turn into the prepared baking dish. Top with the rest of the mozzarella and the Parmesan cheese. Bake for 30 minutes.

Enjoy the crispy noodles and cheese on top first. Then dig in to some AWESOME creamy, cheesy, tomato sauce coated noodles and ‘shrooms.

A really good pasta dish.  Lots of flavor but WAY too big for the two of us. I should have cut the ingredients in half.   Here’s an idea:  Make the entire dish and you’ve got one delicious party pasta plate to put out for the Super Bowl!

Is this a challenge?  Are we testing our stomachs to see how many days in a row we can stretch them to their limits?  Who can last the longest without screaming “MERCY”! 

Seafood Strata

Cauliflower Macaroni and Cheese

Just in case your stomach can’t hold any more but your eyes love the visual pleasures of food, here is site to further satisfy the unending appetite of the eye:  My Little Space aka Kristy Gourmet has offered this little reward to all her foodie friends:

Thanks Kristy!  How nice and how great your site is.  As I said, my stomach can’t hold any more but my eyes are getting pretty fat and your site isn’t helping.

Another challenge for our ever expanding tummy’s is that Thanksgiving doesn’t just happen in one day any more.  It seems that since we have a lot of split families nowadays, that the Thanksgiving feast must be served at two homes.  That means dinner Thursday and again on Friday or Saturday. 

In our case, we went away for Thanksgiving. My sister went over to her mother-in-laws for the family gathering.  The result:  another big dinner at my sister’s yesterday.  What a spread!

Sue cooks a 19 lb bird, green bean casserole, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, stuffing, gravy…all delicious. 

My contribution was a Seafood Strata and Cauliflower Macaroni & Cheese.  The Mac and Cheese was adapted from the latest Williams & Sonoma Holiday catalog on page 45.

Seafood Strata

• 1/2 cup Light Butter
• 4 leeks, sliced using the white part only
• 2 tsp minced garlic
• 1 green pepper, chopped
• Rosemary Olive Oil bread loaf – sliced thin or torn into pieces
• 18 oz  cooked, deveined, tails off shrimp
• 16 oz Cooked crab meat
• 1 cup shredded Italian Blend Cheese
• 1 cup shredded Mexican Blend Cheese
• 4 TBS fresh dill, chopped
• 6 whole eggs
• 3 cups 2% milk
• 2 1/2 TBS Flour
• pepper and salt to taste

Spray a 13 x 9 x 2 baking dish with non stick spray.  In a large pan set to medium heat, melt the butter and add the leeks and pepper.  Cook for 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for 2 minutes.  Remove from heat. 

Line the baking dish with 1/2 of the bread. Top with half of the following:  the leek mixture, shrimp, crab, cheese, and dill.  Repeat, beginning with the bread using the other half of all the above.

In a bowl, beat the eggs, milk, flour, salt and pepper. Pour over the layers in the baking dish.  Let sit at least an hour or refrigerate over night if you can.  

When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350 F.  If refrigerated, let come to room temperature (half an hour) and then bake for 50 – 55 minutes.  Serves 12 – 15

There should always be a pasta dish at any large gathering. I decided on the following from the Williams & Sonoma catalog – modified to suit our tastes.

Cauliflower Macaroni & Cheese

• 2 cups  bread crumbs
• 1/2 cup light butter, melted
• 1/2 cup chopped flat leaf parsley
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 10 oz Vegetarian meats( (5 oz) Veggy Ham and (5oz)Veggy Pepperoni), julienned - If you eat meat, use pancetta and pepperoni slices.
• 1 large head of cauliflower cut into 1/2″ florets
• 1/2 cup light butter
• 1/4 cup flour
• 1/4 cup Veggie Broth
• 3 1/2 cups 2% milk
• 2 cups shredded fontina cheese
• 1 cup Pepper Jack Cheese
• 2 cup shredded Gouda cheese
• 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 1 lb Tomato Basil Penne pasta, cooked al dente

Put a pot of water on the stove top and bring the cauliflower to a boil for 5 minutes. Drain.

Preheat oven to 375 F.  Heat a large pan on the stove top over medium heat and melt the butter. Add the bread crumbs and parsley. Stirring, toast for about 4 minutes. Remove from pan, stir in salt and pepper and set aside.

In the same pan, add a little olive oil and cook vegetarian meats, about 3 minutes over medium high.  Remove to a bowl (or paper plate for less mess) and to the hot pan, add 1/4 cup water to deglaze for one minute then add the cauliflower and cook about 5 minutes – until it browns.  Remove from pan and set aside.

In the same pan, melt the rest of the butter, add the flour and cook for 3 minutes.  Whisk in wine and milk and cook 10 minutes.  Pour into a large roasting pan. Now add the cheeses salt and pepper, cayenne, nutmeg and cream. Add the pasta, vegetarian meats and cauliflower.  Top with the bread crumbs and bake 30 minutes. Serves 12 -15.

Ok. After all that food, it’s time to get back into working it off. A run, a brisk walk, what’s the plan?