OK, this is some of the best Mac’n’Cheese I’ve ever had. I love M’n’C in all of it’s variations, from Kraft Easy Mac right on up to super-fancy-expensive restaurant versions, because, well, noodles and cheese. Hard to go wrong there. That said, it tends to be the kind of dish that’s so heavy and greasy and cheesy that you will (temporarily) vow to never eat cheese again. This recipe fixes that. It’s cheesey-noodley-awesomeness without the heaviness. Also, if you use all non-fat ingredients (except cheese. Please don’t use non-fat cheese, because it’s disgusting and tastes like plastic) it’s actually pretty low calorie. Also: don’t leave off the breadcrumbs.
Light Macaroni and Cheese (serves ~6)
- 1 egg
- 1 cup low/non fat cottage cheese
- 1 cup low/non fat sour cream
- 1/2 cup non fat milk
- 1 small or medium onion, grated
- handful of sage, finely chopped
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp ground pepper
- 2 cups (8 oz) grated medium or mild cheddar cheese*
- 4 cups cooked noodles (8oz uncooked)
- 3/4 cup Panko bread crumbs
- 2 tbs olive oil
- pinch of salt, pepper, and paprika
- pre-heat oven to 350
- Mix together the egg, cottage cheese, sour cream, milk, onion, sage, salt and pepper and cheese.
- Stir the cooked noodles in well, making sure they get a good coating (I like spiral noodles better than elbow macaroni because I feel like they take the coating better, but feel free to use the noodle of your choice.)
- Pour then press down coated noodles into a greased 2qt baking pan
- Mix bread crumbs (go for the Panko here, it’s awesome) olive oil, and spices together – spread as evenly as possible on top of the noodles
- Cover with foil. Bake for ~40 min covered, then ~10 min uncovered, until top is lightly browned
*feel free to use another kind of cheese, but I’d advise against anything too strong, as you don’t want to overwhelm the tanginess of the sour cream.
adapted from The Chef and Photographer