Have you tried to find a macaroni dish that is both healthy and delicious? It’s not easy. Most of them come out dry because they reduce the amount of cheese in the dish in order for it to be considered healthy. What’s the point of eating macaroni and cheese if the star ingredient is practically missing?
If you use a type of cheese that has lower fat than cheddar cheese then you can still enjoy a cheesy masterpiece and maintain how healthy it is. You can also cut down on the calories by using skim milk instead of whole milk or cream.
Ready for some pasta oozing with rich and creamy cheesiness?
Three Cheese Macaroni & Cheese Recipe
(Serves 6)
Ingredients:
- 1 teaspoon oil
- 1 cup onion, diced
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 1 and 1/2 cups skim milk
- 1 bay leaf
- 1/2 cup Gorgonzola cheese, crumbled
- 3/4 cup Romano (or Parmagiano) cheese, grated (divided per the directions below)
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 2 cups elbow macaroni
- 2/3 cup part skim mozzarella cheese, shredded
- 2/3 cup Italian seasoned bread crumbs
- 1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
Directions:
- Cook the pasta in boiling water for 5 minutes, drain well and then set it aside.
- In a medium saucepan, heat the oil over Medium heat.
- Add the diced onions to the pan and cook it for about 8 minutes or until they are tender, stirring occasionally.
- Add the flour and garlic and cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly.
- Add the milk and bay leaf. Bring it to a boil and cook until slightly thickened, stirring constantly with a whisk.
- Add the Gorgonzola cheese, 1/2 cup Romano, and salt and stir until the cheeses melt completely and the sauce becomes smooth.
- Discard the bay leaf.
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
- Add the pasta to the cheese mixture and stir well.
- Grease an 8 x 8 baking pan with cooking spray.
- Place 1/2 of the pasta mixture in baking pan.
- Sprinkle the pasta with the mozzarella cheese.
- Top the mozzarella cheese layer with 1/2 of the remaining pasta.
- Combine 1/4 cup of the Romano and the bread crumbs and then spread it over the pasta.
- Spray the crumbs layer with a little cooking spray and then sprinkle it with black pepper.
- Bake the pasta in the preheated oven for 30 minutes and serve immediately.
This dish tastes best on the day you make it and I recommend serving it as soon as you take it out of the oven.
Cook the past in boiling water for 5 minutes, drain it well and then set it aside.
Chop the onions finely because while they are a nice accent in the dish you don’t want big chunks to overpower each bite of the macaroni and cheese.
There is not a lot of garlic in this dish, just one minced garlic clove.
Once the oil is hot, add the diced onion and cook it for about 8 minutes or until they are tender, stirring occasionally. Then add the flour and garlic and cook for one minute, stirring constantly. It is very important to make sure you constantly stir the flour mixture in order to avoid burning the flour.
Add the milk and bay leaf and bring it to a boil. Cook the milk mixture until it’s slightly thickened, stirring constantly with a whisk. You can see below how the milk mixture is getting thick because it’s sticking to the whisk. Then add the Gorgonzola cheese, Romano, and salt and stir until the cheeses melt completely and the sauce becomes smooth.
Notice a trend here? You stir a lot. Since I always seem to be moving with a purpose, I will admit that this part requires some discipline (or do what I do sometimes and call my loving husband in to stir for me). 😉 I just took the time to think about how I was going to style and photograph this dish. 🙂
Don’t forget to take out the bay leaf and throw it away.
Add the pasta to the cheese mixture and stir well. Grease an 8 x 8 baking pan with cooking spray and then simply layer according to the directions above. Easy peezy. The below picture shows one layer of the pasta mixture and the mozzarella cheese on top of it.
And viola! Look at that gooey goodness! This dish is full of intense cheesy flavors.
It doesn’t have to be dessert time to enjoy crust. 😉 The bread crumbs add a great crunch to every bite.
Adapted from: My Recipes
Mac and cheese is one of my favs — it’s hard to make something cheesey and carby healthy, but the little things like using skim milk can go a long way! Your pictures look amazing, I want some of that gooey cheese right now!
I totally agree, Kelly! Thank you for the wonderful compliment. Made my day. 🙂
That mac and cheese looks absolutely incredible. Seriously, it is so enticing!
It definitely tastes incredibly good! It’s a great twist on a traditional dish and the best part is that it’s diet friendly. 🙂