Gruyère Primavera
Description
Total cheater recipe based almost exactly on My Mac and Cheese, with gruyère, and a lot more green. Super flexible, with or without cream cheese works, but the gruyère makes this dish – enjoy!
Ingredients
1 lb/454 g macaroni – Barilla is our favorite pasta
1/4 c. EACH butter AND minced dried onion flakes
a generous pinch of salt and a good grinding of pepper
~1/4 c. flour
5 c.+ warm or hot whole milk
2 c. + packed grated gruyère – and extra for topping if you wish to bake this
1 package (8 oz/250 g) cream cheese – optional
3 to 4 c. par-cooked fresh green vegetables, bite-size – we like broccoli, peas (adding them frozen is fine), asparagus, zucchini, celery (add with the onion flakes)
Instructions
Cook the macaroni as directed, drain it and set aside. In a large pot or skillet, melt the butter, add the onion flakes, salt and pepper and flour and cook and stir for a couple of minutes until the mixture bubbles and the flour is no longer visible.
Slowly add in the warm/hot milk while whisking and then cook and continue to whisk until it all comes to a boil and thickens. Remove the pot from the heat and add in all of the cheese, stirring continuously until it all melts.
Add in the macaroni and all vegetables and either serve it straight away or scrape it all into a large greased casserole, sprinkle it with extra cheese and bake it at 350 for about 15 minutes until all is bubbling and heated through. Super tasty straight up and quick enough for a weeknight meal!
