Mac ‘n Cheese

I love macaroni and cheese!

I ALWAYS made it as a staple in our house – that is when my girls lived with me and I needed an easy and filling meal.

Back then, I didn’t have to count calories, fat or carbs – I was too busy chasing them and my metabolism was high.

Life changes…they moved out, my metabolism slowed down and I need to watch fat and carbs.

I haven’t made homemade mac ‘n cheese in years!

Tonight I was craving a carb-loaded dinner and found this ‘lightened’ version of mac ‘n cheese in this month’s issue of Cooking Light magazine.

Hmmmm….

no butter, no milk, no roux.

How can this be? Gotta try it.

While the macaroni (or in this case – penne pasta) is cooking, toss together three cheeses:

Sharp cheddar (make sure it’s sharp, this is where the flavor’s coming from),

Parmesan cheese (again, don’t spare on this ingredient)

and lowfat cottage cheese (what!? this replaces the butter, milk, roux part of the recipe – it binds it all together).

During the preparation, it looked like it was going to be dry so I doubled the amount of cheese that the recipe called for. (Hey – I can’t be THAT obedient!)

Prepare the breading topping of panko bread crumbs, Parmesan cheese and chopped parsley.

I tossed the pasta and the cheese and put in a oil-sprayed 8 x 8 pan.

I had an heirloom tomato that was vying for my attention….

I sliced it and put it on top of the pasta.

I topped it with the panko breadcrumb mixture and into the oven it went.

I am still skeptical as if this would be as good as my buttery, milky, fatty mac ‘n cheese of days gone by.

Out of the oven and under the broiler…

mmmm…smelling good so far!

 

Dinner time! It’s creamy and full of flavor but not loaded with fat and calories…

and satisfied my carb craving….

for now.

Here’s the recipe.