I'm so happy to be a part of the first ever Crazy Cooking Challenge hosted at Mom's Crazy Cooking! This month's challenge was to find and try a macaroni and cheese recipe from somewhere in blogland. After bookmarking several (because seriously who doesn't like mac & cheese?) I finally settled on Healthy Mac & Cheese from Finding Joy In My Kitchen. I had this recipe bookmarked for a long time and I'm SOOO glad I chose this one! If you can believe it, the only cheese in this recipe is 1/4 cup parmesan - no cheddar at all! Let me tell you, Silas gobbled it up and so did I. You have to try it!
adapted from Finding Joy In My Kitchen
1 lb pasta
8 oz mushrooms sliced (omitted)
1 T olive oil
1 medium sweet potato
2 tsp minced onion
2 garlic cloves, minced (I used 3, we're garlic lovers)
2 cups chicken broth
1 T corn starch
1/2 cup whipping cream (I substituted 1/2 & 1/2)
1/4 cup parmesan cheese
salt & pepper to taste
Begin by cooking pasta in boiling water, drain, and set aside.
There's the secret ingredient! I love sweet potatoes, but I swear you won't even know it's in there. Peel sweet potato and place in a medium saucepan and cover with cool water. Heat to boiling and continue cooking for about 20 minutes or until sweet potato is easily pierced with a fork. Remove from water and allow to cool slightly.
In a mixing bowl, smash sweet potato with a fork adding some liquid as needed. (I didn't smash it as smooth as I should have and there were some chunks left, but it didn't make one bit of difference in the taste.) Heat olive oil in pan and cook minced garlic over medium heat until fragrant. Add minced onion and chicken broth and simmer for a few minutes. Add sweet potato puree stirring until well combined. Mix corn starch and 1/2 & 1/2 in a small bowl and slowly add to sweet potato mixture while stirring. Continue to simmer until sauce thickens; remove from heat.
Add cooked pasta and parmesan cheese to sauce. Stir until cheese is melted and pasta is coated with sauce. Serve warm.
This is for sure a recipe I will be making again and again for my family. I love that it is so much healthier than traditional mac & cheese and yet it is packed with cheesy, garlicky flavor. Be sure to check out the other Mac & Cheese recipes from the Crazy Cooking Challenge and vote for your favorite one!
Sounds delicious...I love sweet potato. I added cauliflower to my mac and cheese and loved it! http://www.morethanmundane.com/2011/09/07/cooking-together-crockpot-mac-and-cheese/
ReplyDeletesweet potato mac and cheese. So many new variations! I'm bookmarking this one.
ReplyDeleteLooks great with the sweet potato. I bet it was quite delish.
ReplyDeleteMy Crazy Cooking Challenge entry: Velvety Mac & Cheese.
Lisa~~
Cook Lisa Cook
Hi Kelly - this was my first Crazy Cooking Challenge too.... so much fun. Like you, I looked for a recipe that was a bit more healthy. Mine used cauliflower, but I love the idea of sweet potatoes! Love the color too. Will have to save this recipe to try some time.
ReplyDeleteNice meeting you!!
:)
ButterYum
This looks amazing! YUMMY!
ReplyDeleteI will be bookmarking this recipe, I love it! I have 1 year old twins that I'm sure they would eat this right up. I love this healthy version and incorporating sweet potato. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteFound you via Lark's Country Heart. My husbands family is Miller, here in Mennonite land that usually means we are related. LOL :) I enjoyed visiting your site today. Blessings, Tonya from 4littlefergusons
ReplyDeletesweet potatoe?? what??? oooo I HAVE to try this! like now! haha, great recipe!
ReplyDeleteStopping by from the MACARONI & CHEESE Linky Party through Moms Crazy Cooking
I like adding sweet potatoes into my mac & cheese, I do it all the time! YUM!
ReplyDeleteThanks for joining us for the first month of CCC, stop by and check out my Mac & Cheese Bites!
http://momscrazycooking.blogspot.com/2011/09/macaroni-and-cheese-bites-crazy-cooking.html
ohhhh! So happy to hear you enjoyed the mac & cheese. We love it too, and are always surprised at how yummy it is for how little cheese :)
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing your version -- I'll have to try it with the half & half.