Monday, September 7, 2009

Moosewood Restaurant's Lower-Fat Macaroni and Cheese

Inspiration:
Moosewood Restaurant's Low-Fat Favorites Cookbook


Ingredients:
  • 1 1/2 c 1% cottage cheese
  • 1 1/2 c skim milk or buttermilk
  • 1 t dried mustard or 1 T prepared mustard
  • pinch of cayenne (or more)
  • 1/4 t nutmeg
  • 1/2 t salt
  • 1/4 t ground black pepper
  • 1/4 c grated onions
  • 1 c grated sharp cheddar (4 oz.)
  • 1/2 lb. uncooked elbow macaroni (or other tubular pasta)
  • 2 T finely grated Pecorino or Parmesan cheese
  • 1/4 c bread crumbs

Instructions:
  1. Preheat oven to 375. Prepare square (9 or 10 inch) baking pan with a light spray of oil.

  2. In a blender, combine cottage cheese, milk, mustard, cayenne, nutmeg, salt and pepper and puree until smooth. (I used my immersion blender.) In a large bowl, combine pureed mixture with the onions, cheddar and uncooked macaroni. Stir well. Pour macaroni and cheese mixture into the baking pan. Combine the grated Pecoino or Parmesan and bread crumbs and sprinkle over top.

  3. Bake about 45 minutes, until topping is browned and the center is firm.

    Serves 4.

Recipe Notes:
Probably no macaroni and cheese could meet the nutritional needs of a heart patient, but this version is a vast improvement healthwise, especially for kids who eat it a lot.


My Notes:
Tim and I have been attempting to eat a little more healthfully-- more fruits and vegetables, less meat, lots of fiber and protein. However, once in awhile you just need some macaroni and cheese. This recipe is really quite delicious considering how much less fat it has than a traditional macaroni and cheese recipe, like Paula Deen's.


Nutritional Information:
Per 10-oz serving: 471 calories, 30.7g protein, 13.2g fat, 55.7g carbohydrates, 7.7g saturated fatty acids, 0.8g polyunsaturated fatty acids, 3.7g monounsaturated fatty acids, 38mg cholesterol, 1008mg sodium, 1.9g total dietary fiber.


Liz's Rating: 9/10
Tim's Rating: 9/10

11 comments:

LizNoVeggieGirl said...

Classic comfort!

HaveShoesWillTravel said...

Yay your blog is back! We'll have to try this one. My husband is a huge macaroni and cheese fan but eating it every week is very fattening.

Jen_from_NJ said...

We are trying to eat healthier also. Sometimes I need a mac and cheese fix! I'll have to give this a try. Great for the upcoming fall weather!

What's Cookin Chicago said...

I'm so glad you posted this because I have a container of cottage cheese that I was considering throwing out. I don't use/cottage cheese except it was called for in a recipe I made recently. But now I have this recipe to try! Although it's a lower fat mac & cheese, it still looks pretty decadent!

Melynda@Scratch Made Food! said...

This looks so good, thanks.

Anonymous said...

This looks great! Since fall is quickly approaching, I also have to recommend Martha Stewart's butternut squash mac & cheese if you want a healthier version. I've tried it and it's quite good.

http://arugulove.wordpress.com/2008/11/15/butternut-squash-macaroni-cheese/

Maria said...

Love the lighter mac and cheese! Thanks!

Cara said...

this comes from one of my favorite cookbooks! I really like this recipe too.

buy generic viagra said...

Excellent because I like to eating pastas because it's my favorite food, what I like the most of this recipe is it has a lot of cheese in over the pasta, that's so great.m10m

Anonymous said...

thank you for having mac & cheese by Moosewood on the web. Sis and I made it a few weeks ago and I wanted to make it again but I can't find where my book is.

Sarah said...

You can freeze cottage cheese if you're going to use it in a recipe. It changes the texture too much to eat it plain, but it works if baked into something.