Healthy(er) Mac'n'Cheese

Words by Bianca Maria Schioler (she/her) 

The glory about Mac’n’Cheese (other than the memories it conjures of movie nights at home and childhood greed-meals) is that you can make it as simple or as fancy as you like. You choose! 

For mine, I like to add as many veggies as I can find in the fridge, because I prefer to make meals that are fast and simple yet still give my body all the nutrients and good stuff it needs. Whichever veggies you have going off in the fridge will probably work just fine with this recipe, but that being said, there's ABSOLUTELY nothing wrong with just having a simple, classic Mac’n’Cheese and enjoying it on the couch while rewatching ^How I Met Your Mother^ for the third time. 

*Healthy(er) Mac’n’Cheese. You choose!*

Makes 6-8 portions Cost per portion: $2.16 - $4.42

  • 500g macaroni, rigatoni or penne pasta

  • 50g butter

  • 3 tablespoons flour

  • 1L milk

  • 1 cup grated edam cheese

  • ½ cup grated parmesan cheese

  • 3 cloves of garlic (sliced)

  • ½ head of broccoli

  • 8-10 button mushrooms

  • 2 large tomatoes (or you can use sundried tomatoes)

  • Handful of breadcrumbs and grated parmesan to coat

  • Salt and pepper

  • (optional) nutmeg, chopped parsley

  • (optional) 3 rashers of bacon

I know, it’s a long list of ingredients. This can 100% be adapted to whatever you have in the fridge and whatever your taste prefers—the only essential ingredients are the pasta and the sauce. These are prepared as follows:

Prep: 

  1. Begin by chopping up your veggies (and bacon if you’re using it) into less than 1 cm pieces. These need to be as small and measly as your student allowance. Put a large pot of salted water on the stove and bring it to boil. Preheat the oven to 180°C fan bake.

Sauce: 

  1. While the water boils, get a saucepan at low heat and begin by melting your butter. Then stir in the flour with a whisk until you get a paste. At this point, add the sliced garlic and keep stirring for about a minute, then slowly whisk in the milk, a dash at a time. Bring it to the boil and don’t stop stirring or it will get stuck to the bottom. When it has boiled for 5 minutes, remove it from the heat and whisk in the edam and parmesan cheese. Taste it, and add additional salt, pepper and grated nutmeg to your liking (I‘d say about a teaspoon of each).

Pasta: 

  1. Hopefully by now your pasta water is boiling. Add the pasta and cook it for the time it says on the packet ^minus 6 minutes. It will keep cooking in the oven and the last thing we want is mac’n’mush. While it's cooking, chuck all your veggies (and bacon) on a pan and fry them up for a couple of minutes. 

  2. When time is up, drain the pasta and pour it into a large, deep oven dish. Pour in the sauce and the veggies and mix everything up. Drizzle the top with breadcrumbs, a handful of grated parmesan and some chopped parsley if you’re feeling bougie. 

  3. Cook the Mac’n’Cheese for 25 minutes. Give it a blast on the oven grill function for the last 5 minutes to get it golden and crispy on top. 

Serve up a nice big, guilt-free portion, and enjoy the taste of childhood (except now you like, or at least respect, veggies).

Bianca Maria Schioler