With extra protein from cottage cheese and extra creaminess from Laughing Cow triangles, this cauliflower spinach mac and cheese is a tasty delight! And a somewhat healthier comfort food dish.
When we lived in Paris back when our daughters were little, I used to buy La Vache qui rit - Laughing Cow - cheese as snacks for them because 1. It was creamy and delicious, and 2. The little triangles came individually wrapped which made handing them to small children a breeze, plus 3. They didn’t need to be refrigerated if I was packing them for a trip to the park. Bonus: They are high in the calcium needed for growing bones.
Nowadays, you do find them on display in the refrigerated section of the supermarket but the official website assures me that they are actually shelf stable due to the high temperature at which they are created.
When I was developing this recipe, I was looking to up my protein intake and cottage cheese came to mind. But cottage cheese, even blended till smooth, isn’t all that creamy and that's when I remembered the triangle cheese and how it's made!
According to the website, “The Laughing Cow cheese is made by mixing milk powder (which is blended with water to bring it back to milk), cheeses and butter with emulsifying salts. The emulsifying salts simply play the same role as the citrate in fondue Savoyarde, stopping separation and creating a lovely creamy texture.” Who doesn't love a cheese fondue? It’s been made that way since 1921!
I also added a good amount of freshly grated Parmesan for more cheesy oomph! This was a hit with my husband who wanted to go back for seconds at dinnertime but restrained himself. But guess what he had for breakfast the next morning. Yep!
Cauliflower Spinach Mac and Cheese
I used the lighter Laughing Cow cheese and low-fat cottage cheese but you can use full fat versions, if desired. I like the little bitty elbow macaroni for this but use whatever kind you can find. Just know that weight will be a more accurate measure than cups, if you do use a bigger macaroni.
Ingredients
2 teaspoons fine sea salt
8oz or 225g cauliflower florets
8 1/3 oz or 235g baby spinach
6 oz or 170g elbow macaroni (a well-rounded cup)
Olive oil for greasing the baking dish
10oz or 284g low fat cottage cheese
½ cup or 120ml milk
2 tablespoons cornstarch
8 Laughing Cow (light) cheese triangles (120g)
3 ½ oz or 100g Parmesan, grated
Fine sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Cayenne, optional
For topping:
1 oz or 28g Parmesan
3 tablespoons panko
Sprinkle paprika or cayenne, optional
Method
Put a large pot of water on the stove to boil with the salt.
Chop the cauliflower florets roughly and set aside.
I'm picky about my spinach so even when the bag says "washed and ready to eat," I go through it leaf by leaf, tossing any bruised ones and pulling the stems off. If you aren't so picky, skip this step.
When the water comes to the boil, add in the macaroni and set a timer for four minutes less than the recommended time for cooking it al dente.
When the timer goes off, add in the cauliflower.
Cook for one minute less than the prescribed al dente time.
My macaroni said 9 mins to al dente, so I boiled it 5 minutes to start then added the cauliflower and set a timer for 3 minutes: Only 8 minutes total cooking time for the pasta.
Drain the macaroni and cauliflower in a colander, retaining some of the water for possible use later. Rest the hot pot off the stove so it can cool a little.
Preheat your oven to 350ºF or 180°C and grease a casserole dish with a little olive oil.
Blend the cottage cheese, milk and cornstarch in a blender or with a hand blender until smooth and creamy.
Pour the mixture into your pasta pot over low-to-medium heat. Cook for a minute or two, stirring well.
Add in the Laughing Cow and grated Parmesan cheeses.
Stir continuously until the cheeses melt and the sauce is thoroughly heated through and bubbling. Cook for a few minutes, stirring constantly so it doesn’t catch.
Add in the baby spinach and give it a good stir. The spinach will wilt quickly!
Taste the mixture and add salt to your taste, as needed. With all that cheese, you may not need any. Add a few generous grinds of black pepper and a good sprinkle of cayenne, if using, and stir again. If it seems a little dry, you can add a little of the saved pasta water.
Spoon the mixture into your prepared casserole dish.
Mix together the topping ingredients.
Sprinkle them evenly on top with some paprika or cayenne, if using.
Bake for 30 minutes in your preheated oven or until the dish is hot and bubbling and golden on top. You can put the broiler/grill on for the last couple of minutes to get the top more brown, if you’d like.
Enjoy!
It’s Sunday FunDay and today we are sharing recipes for everyone’s favorite comfort food, mac and cheese! Many thanks to our host, Camilla of Culinary Cam. Check out the links below.
- Cauliflower Spinach Mac and Cheese by Food Lust People Love
- Gruyére and Emmentaler Macaroni and Cheese with Ham and Sourdough by Karen's Kitchen Stories
- Instant Pot Chicken Mac and Cheese by A Day in the Life on the Farm
- Keto Roasted Cauliflower Cheese by Sneha's Recipe
- Spicy Cheezy Orzo by Sid's Sea Palm Cooking
We are a group of food bloggers who believe that Sunday should be a family fun day, so every Sunday we share recipes that will help you to enjoy your day. If you're a blogger interested in joining us, just visit our Facebook group and request to join.
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