Almost Guilt Free Mac and Cheese

Name: Almost Guilt Free Mac and Cheese
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 85 min
Total time: 105 min
Yield: 8
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: ½ lb Elbow Macaroni (1/2 pound Cellantani Pasta (elbow macaroni or small shells pasta)); 1 piece Cauliflower (1 medium Head Cauliflower (chopped and roasted)); 1 lb Chicken Breast Fillet (1 pound Chicken Breast (sauteed and diced)); 2 tbsp Olive Oil (2 tablespoons Olive Oil); 5 tbsp Butter (5 tablespoons Butter (divided)); 3 tbsp All-Purpose Flour (3 tablespoons Flour); 1 tbsp Mustard (1 tablespoon Coleman's Prepared Mustard (could also use Dijon mustard)); 3 cup Soy Milk (3 cups Soy Milk); 1 piece Yellow Onion (1 medium Yellow Onion (finely diced)); 2 pieces Bay Leaves (2 Bay Leaves); ½ tsp Paprika (1/2 teaspoon Paprika); ½ piece Lemon (1/2 Lemon (juiced)); ¼ tsp Thyme (1/4 teaspoon Thyme); ½ tsp Garlic Powder (1/2 teaspoon Garlic Powder); 0.13 tsp Peppers (1/8 teaspoon Szechuan Peppers (ground - can use more to taste)*); 2 pieces Egg (2 Eggs); 5 oz Goat Cheese (5 ounces Goat Cheese); 5 oz Parmesan Cheese (5 ounces Shredded Parmesan Cheese); 6 oz Swiss Cheese (6 ounces Shredded Emmental Cheese (or Swiss cheese)); 1 cup Panko (1 cup Panko Bread Crumbs (or other bread crumbs)); 0 pieces Kosher Salt (Kosher Salt); 0 pieces Black Peppercorns (Fresh Ground Black Pepper)

105 minAmerican

Servings8

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Ingredients

For 8 servings

Elbow Macaroni½ lb · 1/2 pound Cellantani Pasta (elbow macaroni or small shells pasta)
Cauliflower1 piece · 1 medium Head Cauliflower (chopped and roasted)
Chicken Breast Fillet1 lb · 1 pound Chicken Breast (sauteed and diced)
Olive Oil2 tbsp · 2 tablespoons Olive Oil
Butter5 tbsp · 5 tablespoons Butter (divided)
All-Purpose Flour3 tbsp · 3 tablespoons Flour
Mustard1 tbsp · 1 tablespoon Coleman's Prepared Mustard (could also use Dijon mustard)
Soy Milk3 cup · 3 cups Soy Milk
Yellow Onion1 piece · 1 medium Yellow Onion (finely diced)
Bay Leaves2 pieces · 2 Bay Leaves
Paprika½ tsp · 1/2 teaspoon Paprika
Lemon½ piece · 1/2 Lemon (juiced)
Thyme¼ tsp · 1/4 teaspoon Thyme
Garlic Powder½ tsp · 1/2 teaspoon Garlic Powder
Peppers0.13 tsp · 1/8 teaspoon Szechuan Peppers (ground - can use more to taste)*
Egg2 pieces · 2 Eggs
Goat Cheese5 oz · 5 ounces Goat Cheese
Parmesan Cheese5 oz · 5 ounces Shredded Parmesan Cheese
Swiss Cheese6 oz · 6 ounces Shredded Emmental Cheese (or Swiss cheese)
Panko1 cup · 1 cup Panko Bread Crumbs (or other bread crumbs)
Kosher Salt0 pieces · Kosher Salt
Black Peppercorns0 pieces · Fresh Ground Black Pepper

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Steps

1Preheat oven to 425 degrees Farenheit.
2For Roasted Cauliflower
3Clean core and leaves from cauliflower (you do not have to have any precision when doing this). Chop cauliflower into pieces. Pieces should be roughly 1/2" - 3/4".
4Place chopped cauliflower pieces onto a baking sheet.
5Drizzle olive oil over top of cauliflower and mix to thoroughly coat pieces.
6After 20 minutes, toss cauliflower pieces to brown all sides.
7Bake for another 20 minutes or until edges are browned.
8Remove from oven and lower temperature to 350 degrees Farenheit.
9For Macaroni and Cheese
10In a large pot of boiling and salted water, cook pasta until it is al dente. Once done, drain.
11In another large saucepan, over medium high heat, melt 3 tablespoons of butter. Once melted, whisk in flour. Keep whisking to ensure that there are no lumps. After 5-7 minutes, the butter and flour mixture should be a light caramel color.
12Add the soy milk, bay leaves, paprika, lemon juice, thyme, garlic powder and Szechuan pepper. Stir occasionally for 10 - 15 minutes. The mixture should thicken up.
13Remove bay leaves.
14In a medium size bowl thoroughly mix eggs. Using a 1/4 cup measuring cup, slowly add milk mixture to eggs (temper the eggs). While adding the hot mixture to the eggs, make sure that you keep whisking. Once you have roughly 2 cups of the soy milk mixture in with the eggs, dump everything into the main saucepan and stir.
15Add in 3/4 of the shredded cheeses, and all of the goat cheese, and stir to combine.
16Add in the cooked, diced chicken and roasted cauliflower. Once these are combined, add the cooked pasta and stir thoroughly.
17Season with salt and pepper.
18Pour into a 9"x13" baking pan.
19Cover with remaining cheese.
20Melt 2 tablespoons of butter in a saute pan.
21Add panko bread crumbs and stir to coat all of the crumbs with butter.
22Top the mac and cheese with the panko crumbs and bake for 30 minutes.
23Let rest for 15-20 minutes before serving.
24If you really want to kick up the heat factor in this, you can add tablespoon of Sriracha hot sauce to the mix.