GREEN MAC & CHEESE
Mac and cheese is a comfort food classic of tender pasta, often elbow macaroni, bathed in a creamy, cheesy sauce that’s baked or stirred until luxuriously smooth and sometimes topped with crunchy breadcrumbs. Its roots trace back to medieval Europe where sauced pasta and cheese dishes existed, but the modern version is commonly credited to 18th century England and popularised in the United States after Thomas Jefferson encountered similar dishes in Europe and served them at a state dinner, with mass popularity cemented in the 20th century by affordable boxed mixes and home-cooking culture.
Now I don’t know if adding in some greens makes this any healthier, but I like to live in the placebo effect that it does have on me. Its so creamy and so delicious, its incredible comforting and is so much better than making that mass produced mac and cheese in the box that is full of the bad stuff.
GREEN MAC & CHEESE
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GREEN MAC & CHEESE 〰️
Time: 40 minutes
Serves: 5-6
110 gm warrigal greens (you can use spinach leaves instead if warrigal is hard to source)
3 garlic cloves
1/2 lemon, juice
500gm macaroni pasta (small elbows)
100gm butter
100gm plain flour
1 ltr milk
1 whole nutmeg
250gm tasty cheese, grated
110gm mozzarella cheese, grated
EVOO
Salt, to taste
Start by bringing a pot of water to a rolling boil. Add in your warrigal greens and cook for 4-5 minutes (until tender and bright green). If using spinach this will cook a lot faster, around a minute so muscly blanch and remove when bright green. Add into food processor with garlic, lemon juice and enough EVOO to just coat the ingredients. Add EVOO bit by bit until you have a smoothy and runny green oily sauce. Season with salt to taste.
Using the same pot of boiling water, bring to a rolling boil again and cook your macaroni pasta to just off al dente. Strain and leave to cool.
Preheat oven to highest grill setting.
To create your cheesy béchamel, add your butter to a pot on medium heat. Once it melts, stir in your flour and cook out for a minute (until its come together with butter to create a roux). Add in your milk and whisk continually until its reduced into a glossy béchamel. Turn heat to lowest setting and grate in some fresh nutmeg (I do a lot, but its up to you), whisk in. Add in all of your tasty cheese and stir in. Turn off heat once cheese has melted in. Stir in your bright green sauce and then stir through your macaroni.
Pour green mac into tray and cover with mozzarella cheese and drizzle of oil. Grill in oven until dark golden and bubbly.