Mac ‘n cheese is my ultimate comfort food. I grew up with macaroni and cheese of this variety and admit to loving the cheesy powdered fake stuff.
When Easy Mac was invented, I thought all my prayers had been answered……except it has gluten and makes me sick of course! I’m sure the blue box was the first thing I made all by myself and is certainly my all time favourite meal. Admittedly, it is hard to find a gluten free recipe that will hold up to the comfort test but this one has got it all.
I’ve discovered a super cute food blogger, Kelly of Eat Yourself Skinny, who has quite a knack of taking traditional foods and making them over into lower fat versions. Last week when I saw her pumpkin macaroni and cheese recipe I nearly licked the screen of my iPad and I knew the recipe was going to be part of the test kitchen sooner rather than later.
I had a big trip to our local wholesale food outlet which as a very large selection of gluten free items that are not available in the grocery stores and, since I have recently tried a number of Eskal products successfully and have been a bit disappointed with other pasta varieties, I decided to pick up their corn lasagne corte pasta. It looked a bit sturdier than the rice varieties. I’ve adapted Kelly’s recipe to be even lower in fat and Weight Watchers Pro Points and made it gluten free. The verdict was a double thumbs up and an “Oh My Gawd” exclamation from the six foot teenager. Winner!
Creamy Pumpkin Macaroni and Cheese (Serves 8 at 6 WW pro points per serve)
Recipe modified from Eat Yourself Skinny
3 cups cubed and peeled butternut pumpkin
1 & ½ cups skim milk
1 & ¼ cups gluten free chicken stock prepared
2 garlic cloves (optional and I left out)
2 Tbls ultra light ricotta cheese
1 tsp salt
½ tsp black pepper
1 whole package of Laughing Cow light wedges chopped
1 cup light mozzarella cheese (not shown but I used Perfect Italiano light pizza cheese)
1 x 500 gram package of gluten free pasta of your choice
½ cup gluten free breadcrumbs
Chopped parsley to garnish
Preheat oven to 190 or 175 for fan forced.
In a medium saucepan, combine cubed pumpkin, chicken stock, milk and garlic, if using, and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for approximately 25 minutes until pumpkin is tender.
Prepare the pasta as per the packet directions. It is so important not to overcook gluten free pasta so I always cook for the shortest amount of time shown on the package, in this instance it was 8 minutes and with a pinch of salt. Drain and rinse in cold water when ready. 
Pour the pumpkin mixture into a blender or food processor and add the ricotta, salt and pepper to taste.
Blend until smooth and pour into a large bowl. Stir the cheeses into the pumpkin mixture until melted and then fold in the pasta.
Lightly spray a large casserole dish with light cooking spray, pour the mac and cheese into the dish, spread evenly and sprinkle the breadcrumbs over the top.
Place in the oven for 25 minutes until golden on top. Garnish the top with parsley and enjoy. I can see this being a family favourite and will no doubt be the new blue box comfort food replacement! Thank you to Kelly for this great recipe base and styling ideas!
| Comfort Food ~ Gluten Free and Low Fat Revamp |
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- 3 cups cubed and peeled butternut pumpkin
- 1 & ½ cups skim milk
- 1 & ¼ cups gluten free chicken stock prepared
- 2 garlic cloves (optional and I left out)
- 2 Tbls ultra light ricotta cheese
- 1 tsp salt
- ½ tsp black pepper
- 1 whole package of Laughing Cow light wedges chopped
- 1 cup light mozzarella cheese (not shown but I used Perfect Italiano light pizza cheese)
- 1 x 500 gram package of gluten free pasta of your choice
- ½ cup gluten free breadcrumbs
- Chopped parsley to garnish
- Preheat oven to 190 or 175 for fan forced.
- In a medium saucepan, combine cubed pumpkin, chicken stock, milk and garlic, if using, and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for approximately 25 minutes until pumpkin is tender.
- Prepare the pasta as per the packet directions. It is so important not to overcook gluten free pasta so I always cook for the shortest amount of time shown on the package, in this instance it was 8 minutes and with a pinch of salt.
- Drain and rinse in cold water when ready.
- Pour the pumpkin mixture into a blender or food processor and add the ricotta, salt and pepper to taste.
- Blend until smooth and pour into a large bowl. Stir the cheeses into the pumpkin mixture until melted and then fold in the pasta.
- Lightly spray a large casserole dish with light cooking spray, pour the mac and cheese into the dish, spread evenly and sprinkle the breadcrumbs over the top.
- Place in the oven for 25 minutes until golden on top. Garnish the top with parsley and enjoy.
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Follow these topics: Main dishes, Pasta, Uncategorized, Vegetarian
[...] mentioned that I grew up with the super fabulous boxed version of mac n cheese and was a complete slave to it’s cheesy, scrumptious temptation. No more [...]