Wednesday, June 4, 2014

Stephanie's Recipes: Gluten Free Mac & Cheese

Be still my beating (now probably more clogged up) heart!


Just when I thought my gluten free-ish, anti-inflammatory diet was going to be super limiting, I found THIS recipe for gluten free mac and cheese and now my life is complete again.

IT IS AMAZING.

Pure cheesy goodness. Nomnomnomnomnom.

Sure, it's a little more diary than my anti-inflammatory dieting mouth should take in, but it's one of those "I'm kinda cheating while still staying within the guidelines" meals. We all need to have our comfort foods every once in a while, right? And honestly, you don't have to feel too bad, since it's still gluten free AND I'm sneaking some vegetables in there.

Them noodles are swimming in the good stuff. This is what it looks like before it goes for a bake in the oven.

Here's my take on this classic comfort food...

Gluten Free Mac and Cheese with Broccoli 

Ingredients
8 oz gluten-free pasta (shape of your choice)
1 tsp salt
3 tbsp butter
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tsp dijon mustard
3 tbsp rice flour
1 1/4 cups chicken broth
1 cup whole milk
4 oz cheddar cheese, grated
8 oz colby cheese, grated
1-2 cups optional mix-ins, such as broccoli, peas, pre-cooked ham or chicken, jalapenos, etc.

Directions
Adjust oven rack to middle and preheat oven to 375.

Fill a medium pot 3/4 full with water and bring to a boil. Once water reaches a boil, add salt and pasta. Stir frequentl with a wooden spoon during the first few minutes of cooking. Follow boil time directions on the pasta box and drain when almost tender.

If you'd like to include brocc, add it to the boiling pasta 2 min before the pasta's done to cook that brocc up a little.

In a large pot, melt butter over medium heat. Add garlic and mustard. Cook, stiring constantly, until garlic is translucent, about one minute.

Whisk in rice flour with a wire whisk. Cook, whisking constantly, until thick and light bown, about three minutes.

In a slow and steady stream, add chicken broth and milk. Whisk until mixture thickens. Cook until mixture is thick and begins to bubble. Turn heat to low.

Add cheese, one handful at a time, until incorporated. Stir gently using a wooden spoon until cheese melts. Sauce should be smooth.

Add pasta and any mix-ins to sauce. Stir to combine. Pour into an 8x8-inch baking pan.

Bake until sauce is bubbling and edges are starting to turn golden brown, about 25-30 minutes. Remove pan from oven and allow to cool for ten minutes before serving.

Serves 4-6.

Adapted from Elizabeth Barbone's recipe at Serious Eats.


8 comments:

  1. Yum!!! Thanks for posting, you're making me hungry!! So impressed by your GF dedication...that was the hardest diet I ever tried, but you're doing awesome!

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    1. Thank you!! I'm certainly not a pro, but I'm getting the hang of it. The cool thing about the anti-inflammatory diet is that you can occasionally have gluten so long as you're consuming whole grain versions. So, if I wanted to use whole wheat pasta in this recipe instead, that would be fine too. I just find it easier to avoid gluten as much as possible, though. Otherwise, I'd be stuffing my face with lots of whole grain breads every day, while on this diet I'm only supposed to be having a few servings of it a week. It's all about that balance. If you ever try out this recipe, let me know what you think. I'm sure it'd be fantastic with regular pasta too. :)

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  2. I definitely want to try this! I will use coconut milk to cut more dairy out and use raw cheddar cheese instead of reg. pasturized cheese. Yum, yum!

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    Replies
    1. Great ideas, Kat!! If you try it with those modifications, let me know how it turns out! I especially love the coconut milk idea!

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  3. There is nothing like good ole' mac and cheese. My husband and I just had the box kind for the first time in a LONG time. So good! I'm glad you found a GF alternative. :)

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    1. Mac and cheese just speaks to my heart! My husband and I had the box kind recently too, but I switched out the noodles it came with for GF noodles. It actually worked pretty well!

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