Macaroni and cheese, although much loved, is a bit of a nutritional wasteland. I like to use celery root in this dish because it is very much like a potato in that it takes on the flavour of whatever it is added to. Therefore kids don't taste vegetable in this dish. What is lacks in flavour it makes up for in nutrition. It has half the calories of a potato, along with calcium and potassium. Celery root or celeriac has become easy to find and although ugly are a great thing to cook with. Just don't tell anyone it is in there.
Simple Mac and Cheese
Simple Mac and Cheese
Serves 6
Ingredients
10 oz elbow pasta 1/3 of a celery root, peeled and cut into cubes 2 cloves garlic 5 oz skim tasty cheese, shredded 1 1/2 cups skim milk 3 tablespoons all purpose flour 1 tablespoon dijon mustard 1 1/2 tablespoons parmesan cheese
Method
Boil the celery root until soft with the garlic, about ten minutes. Puree using either a hand blender or a food processor. (Note the smoother the puree the less detectable the vegetable is). Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Cook the pasta according to the instructions, set aside. Add the milk, flour and mustard to a saucepan and stir over medium heat until the sauce starts to thicken. Add the cheese a little at a time stirring between each addition to ensure that it stays smooth. Combine the cooked pasta with the vegetable puree and the cheese sauce and pour into a 1 1/2 liter flat baking dish. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese and bake for twenty minute or until it is just browned and starts to bubble. Cook for a further three minutes under the broiler. Wait a couple of minutes before serving as it will be molten hot when it comes out from under the grill.
