Day 14 - Mac & Cheese Spaghetti

"Facebook and recipes, my favorites!" 

"Gary, I told you, no internet before supper is done!" 

It's a beautiful Wednesday today and Gary is looking forward to cooking another brand new meal for all his two best friends to eat. Today's recipe is Mac and Cheese Spaghetti from 365 Vegetarian Recipes.

To start off, the recipe explains that you need to turn the oven on to 425° F to bake bread crumbs with butter and parmesan cheese for 5 minutes. Gary think that's a load of bullshit:

"Back to the drawing board..."

So we decided to do it our way and just fry them in a pan on low to medium heat:

Results: same effect. Nice crunchy bread crumbles.

So now we finish cooking the spaghetti and brocoli in one saucepan, and start to make the cheese-based sauce in the large saucepan.

"Time for a swim!"
"Noooooo!"

And after having added what I assume is way-way-way-way-WAY too much cheese, we put the whole thing together in the large saucepan!

And now it's ready to serve!

Bon appétit!

Mac & Cheese Spaghetti

Prep: 30 minutes / Bake: 5 minutes

Oven: 425°F (pfffft!)

Makes: 6 to 8 servings

Per serving: 456 calories, 20g fat (12g saturated fat), 56mg cholesterol, 561 mg sodium, 47g carbs, 6g fibre, 23g protein

Ingredients: 

• 1 & 1/2 cup coarse white bread crumbs
• 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 tablespoon butter, melted
• 1 14- to 16-ounce package dried multigrain, whole wheat or regular spaghetti
• 1 tablespoon salt (can be omitted)
• 2 cups fresh brocoli florets or one 10-ounce package frozen peas
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 teaspoon Dijon-style mustard
• 8 ounces sharp cheddar cheese, finely shredded (2 cups)*
• 4 ounces American cheese, shredded (1 cup)*

*Note: We used marble cheddar cheese for both servings. I have no idea what American Cheese is. 

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 425° F. In a 15x10x1-inch baking pan, combine crumbs, Parmesan cheese, and the 1 tablespoon butter. Bake for 5 minutes. Remove from oven; stir. Set aside.
2. Cook pasta according to package directions, adding brocoli to water with pasta during the last 3 minutes of cooking. Using a ladle, remove 2 cups of the pasta cooking water; set aside. Drain pasta and brocoli. Return pasta mixture to hot pan; cover and keep warm. 
3. In a large saucepan bring 1 cup of the reserved pasta water to a boil. Add the 2 tablespoons butter and mustard. Add cheeses, a handful at a time, continuously stirring after each addition until cheese melts. Stir in more pasta water if needed. Add pasta mixture; toss gently to combine. Sprinkle servings with crumb mixture.

:)