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!
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.
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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
Pre-heat the oven to 200C/400F (fan) or 220C/430F (convection)
Peel the sweet potato (otherwise the skin can go slimy and be off-putting)
Melon ball out the sweet potato and courgette, keeping them in separate bowls
(Note the remaining body of the vegetables can be used in soups, ratatouille or simply chopped up and roasted)
Place the stock in a lidded saucepan and bring to the boil.
Add the sweet potato to the pan, pop on the lid and cook for two minutes
Add the courgettes and remove the pan lid
Once the vegetables are cooked al dente, use a slotted spoon to lift them out into an oven-proof dish and rest
Retain the cooking liquor and add the double cream plus any optional spices
Bring to the boil
In a separate cold, heat resistant bowl add the two egg yolks and whisk together
Pour the hot cream and stock into the yolks and beat vigorously to blend
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’
Keep whisking for 3-4 minutes to cook out the egg yolks and thicken
Remove the mixture from the heat and add in the cheddar cheese
Continue to whisk until amalgamated (you can use a stick blender to make it ultra-smooth if you wish)
Pour the sauce over the vegetables, sprinkle on the parmesan and put in the oven until the top starts to caramelise