Mac & cheese; we all have our favorite recipe, I do too. Yesterday, I took the liberty of changing one of my mac & cheese recipes a little bit, incorporating vegetables and a flavored cheese. I used Sage Derby Cheese; an English cheddar with sage and spinach (the latter for the color, the first for the flavor). Then I decided to add spinach, for a bright green and broccoli for flavor and the necessary veggies. It turned out to be a very creamy green Mac & Cheese.
Key Ingredient in This Recipe
You’ll find the complete list of ingredients and exact quantities in the recipe below.
- Pasta – I used cavatappi pasta, but any pasta will do. The spiral or corkscrew shape of the cavatappi makes it well-suited to hold on the sauces and small ingredients.
- Spinach
- Broccoli
- Butter
- All-purpose flour
- Milk
- Sage Derby cheese
I chopped the broccoli, but you can also use your food processor to make broccoli rice, if you have one, but since broccoli cuts a whole lot easier than cauliflower, you don’t really need it. Keep some large pieces, which add some chew to the dish. Cook the spinach and chop it. Cooking it first allows you to get rid of some of the moisture. You also throw away some of the green color, but not to worry; the dish will be green, with or without the green spinach water.
Cook the pasta, I used Cavatappi pasta, but it goes without saying that you can use every pasta under the sun. Chop or rice the broccoli, cook, chop and squeeze the spinach. Make a standard bechamel sauce; butter, flour and milk and add the shredded Sage Derby Cheese. Add some salt and pepper to the sauce if needed. You may like to add some nutmeg ?
Mix all; pasta, vegetables, cheese sauce and transfer to a dish. Place the dish in the oven and cook for about 20 minutes. If you like, you can add some cheese on top to get a extra brown crunchy top.
That crunchy, blackened part of a cheese sauce in the oven, used the be my favorite part of a dish and when I was young, my brothers and I would almost fight over it at the dinner table. For the sake of a visible picture, I didn’t sprinkle cheese over the top and you see, already we have some crunch. Enjoy!
Broccoli and Spinach Mac & Cheese
Pin Recipe FacebookIngredients
- 4 ounces pasta
- 4 ounces spinach
- 8 ounces broccoli
- 1 ounce butter
- 1 ounce all-purpose flour
- 3/4 cup milk
- 4 ounces sage derby cheese
- salt and pepper
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
- Cook the pasta according to the directions on the packaging.
- Chop the broccoli fine or use your food processor to make broccoli rice. (NOTE 1)
- Cook the spinach just a few minutes and chop fine. Press as much liquid out of it as you can.
- Shred the cheese and make a cheese sauce. Melt the butter, add the flour, cook for 1 minute and add the milk (warm).
- Once you have a smooth sauce, add the cheese and add salt and pepper to taste.
- Mix pasta with vegetables and cheese sauce.
- Transfer to dish and place dish in the oven.
- Cook for approx. 20 minutes and serve.
Notes
- If you like some larger broccoli pieces, don’t cut it all down to rice.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I’ve been craving mac n cheese but also trying to be healthier. Delicious recipe , added Dijon mustard to my cheese sauce for depth. Love this
Hey Cally; I am so happy that you liked it. Mac n cheese is such a versatile dish that you can adapt it any way you like.