top of page
Elevated Logo - Green
Vegetarian

Mac-free Mac ‘n’ Cheese

20 mins
Intermediate
2 Servings

Here we take a classic mac ’n’ cheese and replace the mac with some colourful veggies instead to produce a healthy and flavourful dish the kids will love, or that adults can use as a playful side dish. Cooked from scratch and without any heavy carbs, it's a winner!

Brilliant Bases Used In This Recipe
Bone Marrow Broth
About This Recipe

Jason came up with this idea for his son Christian who absolutely loves pasta as a go-to staple, mainly because of its relatively bland taste and soft texture requiring little effort to chew. We’ve taken the pasta out entirely to come up with our version of this classic cornerstone that still tastes amazing but is interesting on the eye too.  


By using one of our Brilliant Base stocks (Bone Marrow Broth or Roast Root Vegetable Stock) as the starting point to cook our pasta replacers, we are already ahead of the curve both nutritionally and flavour wise. 


What are those replacers? Sweet potato and courgette (or zucchini) are our two suggestions, both slightly fibrous starchy vegetables that appeal to the palate sensors and with greater nutritional value than pasta by itself.  We use a ‘melon baller’ tool to create the small balls, but you could just as easily chop the veg into small squares and this would work equally as well.  


The cheesy sauce / custard is made using the reserved liquor from cooking the sweet potatoes and courgettes, along with organic double cream, egg yolks and cave-aged cheddar. Add a little yellow mustard if you like and season to your or your child’s taste sensitivities. Once again we have made this a simple recipe without using traditional wheat flours to thicken the sauce, this reduces the cooking time and keeps the dish GF.

Video
Log In To Access This Free Recipe

Log in today and gain access to this recipe to get a taste of how we elevate your mealtimes with Elevated Food For Life.

Subscribe To Access This Recipe

Sign up today and gain access to this recipe and 100's more healthy, delicious, easy-to-make recipes with Kitchen Skills Courses and Nutrition Guides to Elevate your cooking today!

Ingredients

  • 1 sweet potato peeled 

  • 1 courgette/zucchini 

  • 150g/5oz of one of our Brilliant Base stocks (or other stock) 

  • 100g/4oz double cream 

  • 75g/2.6oz cave-aged cheddar 

  • 2 egg yolks 

  • Parmesan to taste

Nutrition Per Serving

Calories

240

Fats

14G

Carbs

17G

Protein

13G

Method

  1. Pre-heat the oven to 200C/400F (fan) or 220C/430F (convection)

  2. Peel the sweet potato (otherwise the skin can go slimy and be off-putting)

  3. Melon ball out the sweet potato and courgette, keeping them in separate bowls

  4. (Note the remaining body of the vegetables can be used in soups, ratatouille or simply chopped up and roasted)

  5. Place the stock in a lidded saucepan and bring to the boil.

  6. Add the sweet potato to the pan, pop on the lid and cook for two minutes

  7. Add the courgettes and remove the pan lid

  8. Once the vegetables are cooked al dente, use a slotted spoon to lift them out into an oven-proof dish and rest

  9. Retain the cooking liquor and add the double cream plus any optional spices

  10. Bring to the boil

  11. In a separate cold, heat resistant bowl add the two egg yolks and whisk together

  12. Pour the hot cream and stock into the yolks and beat vigorously to blend

  13. Fill the now empty stock pan with boiling water and place the bowl with the cream/stock/eggs on top to create a ‘bain marie’

  14. Keep whisking for 3-4 minutes to cook out the egg yolks and thicken

  15. Remove the mixture from the heat and add in the cheddar cheese

  16. Continue to whisk until amalgamated (you can use a stick blender to make it ultra-smooth if you wish)

  17. Pour the sauce over the vegetables, sprinkle on the parmesan and put in the oven until the top starts to caramelise

Method
Ingredients
Related Recipes
Ultimate Creamy Mashed Potatoes
Cumin roasted sweet potato wedges
Roast Root Vegetable Stock
Mac ‘n’ Cheese Potato Skins
Kids’ Osso Buco
Maple Glazed Pumpkin "Dino ribs"
Bone Marrow Broth
Related Kitchen Skills
Peeling Kiwi

Peeling Kiwi

Impact of a Nutritious Diet

Impact of a Nutritious Diet

Kitchen Hardware

Kitchen Hardware

The Perfect Plate

The Perfect Plate

Keeping Safe In The Kitchen

Keeping Safe In The Kitchen

bottom of page