Healthy Mac + Cheese

This is one of the most requested dishes when I cook for friends, and it’s also one I always make and leave in the fridge for Jake to eat when I’m out of town (otherwise he defaults to eating like a sewer rat. Love you!).

You guys, I love macaroni. Everyone loves macaroni. Unfortunately, macaroni also makes me go comatose on the couch after partaking, and then compels me to kill myself at the gym the next day. Macaroni is a cruel mistress, but she’s my mistress, so I found a recipe to keep my tongue and my thighs both happy.

This recipe is one of Grace Parisi’s that I adapted from Food & Wine. As far as macaroni goes, I don’t think I’ve found a healthier option that actually contains real pasta or cheese. This one contains very little cheese, no cream or roux of any kind, and the sauce is actually made of pureed carrots simmered with orange zest. The bulk of your calories come just from the pasta itself so if you want to try substituting with things like shirataki noodles, be my guest (I personally can’t abide that toothsome bite, but to each his own). But to be quite honest, this mac is awesome and you can’t tell that it’s healthy! There are several additions you can make as well—I got a big bunch of sweet potato greens in my CSA basket yesterday and threw them in when I combined the sauce and pasta, it was ACES. And if you want to indulge or just use up some leftover cream in the fridge, you can always throw some of that in too. I do encourage you to make it the healthy way first though. It’s so good as-is, and while I love full-fat dairy products just as much as the now-infamous Miz Paula Deen, adding cheese/butter/cream is going to put you in coma-territory in addition to muting the flavors of the tarragon and carrot puree. Happy eating!

Healthy Mac + Cheese

1 lb. carrots, peeled and sliced into 1/4" coins
zest of 1 orange, in large strips
juice of 1 orange
3 cups penne pasta
1 cup sharp cheddar, shredded
1 Tbsp. chopped tarragon
1/4 cup water
1 cup reserved pasta water
white pepper (black is okay too)
salt

Preheat the oven to 350F.

In a large saucepan, combine the carrots with the orange zest, orange juice and 1/4 cup water. Season with salt and pepper and bring to a boil. Cover and summer over medium heat until carrots are very soft, about 20 minutes. If all the liquid evaporates and the carrots still aren't soft enough, add a little bit more orange juice or water. Discard the zest and transfer carrots and any liquid to a blender/food processor and puree until completely smooth.

Meanwhile, cook your pasta to al dente according to package directions (make sure to generously salt your water!). Drain, reserving 1 cup of the cooking water.

Add the cooked pasta and carrot puree to the saucepan you cooked your carrots in. Add the reserved water and cook over medium low heat, stirring frequently until pasta is coated. Stir in 3/4 of the cheese and stir until the cheese is melted. Stir in the tarragon and season with salt and white pepper.

Transfer the pasta to a medium baking dish and sprinkle with the remaining cheese. Bake until the cheese is bubbly and slightly browned, about 20 minutes.

Eat!!