Friday, March 7, 2008

Macaroni and Cheeze

Mmm.. what could be better than a nice hot bowl of creamy macaroni and cheeze after a long hard day?

Two nice hot bowls of creamy macaroni and cheeze!

This recipe evolved from two different recipes. One is from The Vegetarian Family Cookbook by Nava Atlas and the second is an Alton Brown recipe from the Food Network. The end result is a beautiful baked mac & cheese with broccoli and a panko bread crumb topping! Divine!

Photobucket

Megan's Mac & Cheeze Hybrid
12 oz elbow macaroni.. or whatever other noodles you've got around
One 12.3 oz package of silken tofu (i.e. Nasoya Silken Tofu)
2 tbsp margarine (Earth Balance!)
1 cup packed cheddar style soy cheeze
1 cup packed monterey jack style soy cheeze
1 bay leaf
1 tsp ground mustard
1/2 tsp paprika
2 cups steamed broccoli florettes [steam until still a bit crisp.. will soften more in oven]

1 cup panko
3 tbsp margarine

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Prepare the noodles according to package directions.

3. While the noodles are doing their thing, puree the tofu in a blender.

4. In a 2 qt saucepan (medium sized), melt the 1 tbsp margarine. Add the tofu, bayleaf, mustard, and paprika and stir. Once the spices are mixed in, add the cheeze and cook over low heat, stirring frequently, until the cheeze sauce is smooth. Keep the sauce simmering, stirring frequently, until the noodles are ready for it.

5. Once all your components are ready, carefully fish the bay leaf out of the cheeze sauce, then mix together the cheeze sauce, the broccoli and the noodles. Pour it all into a casserole dish (I find an 8 inch square dish usually fits just right)

6. Melt the last 3 tbsp of margarine and toss with the panko, then top your noodles with the panko mixture.

7. Bake in the preheated oven for about 30 minutes or until the panko is toasty.

Side shot of the mac & cheeze goodness:
Photobucket

No comments: