Old Fashioned Mac & Cheese

 

 

I was perusing Pinterest as you do the other day and saw what looked to be a delicious recipe for Mac & Cheese from the blog Plain Chicken.  I used to follow her a long time ago and always loved her recipes.

She called this her favorite Mac & Cheese, which made it sound even more promising.  Can you ever have too many recipes for Mac & Cheese?  I think not!

 

I love mac and cheese and while I have my favorites, I am always looking to try out something new. You just never know when you are going to discover a new favorite.

Her recipe sounded quite intriguing, if not more than a little bit different. It used egg and cottage cheese. I have never used those things in a mac and cheese before! 

It reminded me very much of the type  of mac and cheese my grandmother might have made. There was no faffing about with making a sauce, so it looked quick and easy as well!

The only problem was it made 8 servings and there is only me here in this house.  I did what I always do, I cut it down to serve only 2 people, and you are getting the cut down version today. 

I did have to buy cottage cheese to make it and now will have to figure out some ways to use up the rest of the cottage cheese. I am sure I will come up with something. 

 

 

I wish they sold smaller cartons of cottage cheese here were I live. That is one thing I really liked about the UK, although when I first moved over there I used to think it was awful how everything came in such small containers.

Now I wish I had those smaller containers to use. They were ever so convenient for the smaller family or the singleton!  They had little single serving sized snap pots of beans, etc.  What I liked about them was that there was little to no waste.

 

Idiotically the smaller sized did work out to be more expensive in the long run than the larger containers.  But, you didn't have anything to throw away or try to use up either.   

It was just better to have a small pot than a large can that would take a person three days to eat, or stuff your freezer full of small bits of everything, that never got used up anyways. Just my thoughts on that.

Anyways, if you have any recipes that you enjoy which use cottage cheese, other than lasagna, do let me know!

 

    WHAT YOU NEED TO MAKE OLD FASHIONED MAC & CHEESE

Its not a long list of ingredients and for this version, not a huge quantity of any one ingredient.

• uncooked elbow macaroni (I used Barilla)
• grated cheddar cheese ( I grated my own and used strong/sharp cheese for the most flavor)
• cottage cheese ( I used regular full fat creamy cottage cheese, in for a penny, in for a pound)
• dairy sour cream ( again I used regular full fat)
• milk (again I use whole milk)
• 1/2 of a large beaten egg
• Cajun seasoning (its very easy to make your own, see note on recipe)
• paprika to sprinkle

 

HOW TO MAKE OLD FASHIONED MAC & CHEESE

Once you cook the macaroni, nothing could really be easier.  I am all for easy these days!  I don't know how I ever managed to get all the things done that I did when I worked full time because I can hardly get the things I need to do done now!

All you need to do to make this is cook the macaroni. While the macaroni is cooking, whisk together both cheeses, the egg,  sour cream and milk and seasoning together in a medium sized bowl.

 

Once the macaroni is cooked, drain it well and you can rinse it if you like. I didn't bother.

Just stir it into the mixture in the bowl and then pour the whole lot into a buttered baking dish.  Because I was only making enough for two, I used a much smaller casserole dish.  I did want to have as much surface as I could, so I used a 7-inch square baking dish, but you can use whatever size dish you have that is small/large enough to hold the mixture.

 

Once you have done that, sprinkle the top with paprika and then cover it tightly with some aluminum foil. She said to butter it, but I didn't bother because I knew my macaroni would not be touching the foil.

That's it.  Bake for half an hour covered, uncover and bake for 15 to 20 minutes more.  Because mine was a much smaller size it did not take as long to cook as the full sized version.

  

It was a bit more solid than most versions of mac and cheese. I reckon that was down to the use of egg.  The egg works with the milk, etc. to make a sort of custard. 

The texture was really lovely and the flavor was really lovely and cheesy.  You couldn't really tell that there was cottage cheese in it.

 

The flavors were lovely and rich.  I really enjoyed it.  I served it with some shake and bake chicken wings (don't judge) and broccoli/cauliflower cheese.  (frozen Green Giant, again don't judge.)

Altogether this was very filling and quite delicious. Just the thing for a cold Winter's day.  We got lambasted with a ton of snow last night, so a bit of comfort food was in order!

I am going to enjoy the leftovers tomorrow. I will probably melt a bit of butter and make a hash of them, serving it with some pickled beets and brown bread. 

What I loved about this is that it was very easy and quick to throw together.  It also tasted delicious.  There was actually nothing that I didn't like about it, so I would consider that a win all round!

Old Fashioned Mac & Cheese

Yield: 2

Author: Marie Rayner

Prep time: 14 MinCook time: 50 MinTotal time: 1 H & 4 M

This was quick and easy to make and quite delicious. Not as creamy as regular mac and cheese, but very tasty anyways. Nice and cheesy!

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup (60g) uncooked elbow macaroni
• 1/2 cup (60g) grated strong/sharp cheddar cheese
• 1/4 cup (60g) full fat cottage cheese
• 1/4 cup (30g) full fat sour cream
• 1/4 cup (60ml) whole milk
• 1/2 large free range egg, beaten
• 1/4 tsp Cajun seasoning ( see notes)
• 1/4 tsp of paprika to sprinkle over top

Instructions

1. Pre-heat the oven to 350*F/180*C/ gas mark 4. Butter a shallow 7-inch square casserole dish. Set aside.
2. Cook the macaroni, according to package directions just until al dente. Drain well.
3. While the macaroni is cooking whisk the cheeses, sour cream, milk, egg and Cajun seasoning together in a bowl. Stir in the cooked macaroni, folding everything together well to combine.
4. Pour into the prepared baking dish. Cover tightly with aluminum foil.
5. Bake for half an hour. Uncover and bake for 15 to 20 minutes longer, until bubbly and golden brown. Serve hot.

Notes

Make Your Own Cajun Seasoning: Mix together 2 1/2 TBS of salt, 1 TBS dried oregano leaves (Rub to a powder using your fingertips), 1 TBS sweet paprika, 1 TBS cayenne pepper, and 1 TBS ground black pepper. Store in an airtight container out of the light for up to six months.

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