Circle B Kitchen
Pureed cauliflower actually does create an amazingly smooth, silky, flavorful sauce for mac n cheese. Feel free to swap out the cheddar for Gouda or any combination of your favorite melting cheeses. I used nonfat milk to hold down the calorie count, but you could just use the cauliflower cooking water to reduce the dairy if you wanted. Using low fat or whole milk would make this sauce even richer tasting, and as always, soy milk would work as well. Enjoy!
Serves 4 as a side dish; 2 or 3 as a main course
6 oz large elbow macaroni
1 smallish head of cauliflower, cut into smallish flowerets
2/3 cups of milk
2-3 cups of grated cheddar cheese
2 T butter
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
Cook the macaroni for a couple minutes less than the package instructions. Drain.
Bring 4 cups of salted water to a boil and then add the cauliflower florets. Bring the water back to a boil, reduce the heat to a simmer, cover, and let the cauliflower cook for about 7-8 minutes or until fork tender. Alternately, you can steam the cauliflower.
Strain the cauliflower and place in a blender along with 1/2 cup of the milk or you can use an immersion blender for this.
Blend until the cauliflower is really smooth and silky, adding a little more milk as needed to make a smooth, creamy sort of thick sauce.
In a medium-large saucepan, melt the butter and then add the cauliflower puree. Stir in the grated cheddar until well blended and then stir in the macaroni. Taste for salt and pepper, adjusting the seasoning as needed.
Grease a 2 quart baking dish and then spoon the macaroni into the pan. Sprinkle the top with the grated parmesan cheese.
Place the pan under the broiler until the top is golden brown and bubbly.