Growing up we did not have a crock pot so when I got one as a wedding gift I was a little baffled as to how it operated. I was told, "You throw in the ingredients, turn it on and it makes a meal." Sounded too good to be true. I tried some recipes and it was like magic. Food that took little prep and I didn't need to be in the kitchen while it cooked was an is awesome although I do love the actual cooking process of making meals. Then I came across some a mac and cheese recipe and thought, "My life can't get much better than this! It'll be like my mom actually did make me this meal instead of me!" Then I read the instructions. Pre-cook the noodles and then add it to the pot? Ugh! What's the point of the crock pot then? Just put it in the oven and don't make a mess of a huge, heavy pan. So I've avoided crock pot mac and cheese recipes. That is until now.
In prepping for our Embassy Halloween Potluck, I volunteered to bring a dish and I decided on, what else, mac & cheese, always a kid and crowd favorite. I scoured the internet for recipes because I can't just make my old standby for these people. I must impress! (By the way, this is a terrible thing for anyone to do. You should NEVER try a new recipe on guests or at a party because if it's a failure then you've messed up the meal. I sadly almost always break this rule and luckily for me it usually ends in success.) Anyway!
I stumbled across two recipes that shunned the idea of precooking the noodles. I copied them down and then did some more reading. One of the recipes said it would work with whole wheat noodles which is another gamble but I wanted it to be somewhat healthy so I went with that recipe. And as with all mac & cheese recipes I make, I change and improve them a little to fit my needs. This recipe said to dump in the uncooked noodles, milk, spices and butter to the pot and cook on LOW for 1 hour which I did. It then said to check the done-ness of the noodles and cook for an additional 30-60 minutes on LOW. I did that too. 30 minutes later my whole wheat noodles were perfectly cooked. Next it wanted me to drain any excess liquid and add the cheese and mix. This is where I stopped following the recipe because I said to myself, "That's silly. This has the base of a perfect bechamel which is the base of any great mac & cheese recipe!" So what I did next was add flour. In the end it was probably a little too much flour but I'll have the portion tweaked in the recipe below.
So I didn't drain all that beautiful milky, buttery liquid. I added flour and whisked it all together to get out the clumps. I next added about 2 oz of cream cheese to add to the creaminess of the dish. After that did I add 4 cups of pre-shredded cheese. Here they have weird mixes of cheese so it was like a six or seven cheese mac & cheese by the end of it. Back home I'd have gone with good old cheddar and maybe some Monterey but they don't have those here. It was mozzarella, parmesan, gouda, "cheddar" and a few others but it was all very delicious so I'm not complaining.
After all my tweaking my dish was mostly done. It tasted amazing but I now had too much cheese and not enough pasta. I quickly made some pasta the normal way and added it in, mixed and then it was the perfect ratio of cheese to noodles. Something was missing, I thought. I'm a sucker for bread crust toppings. How to accomplish this in a crock pot? I melted about 1 tablespoon of butter in a sautee pan then added close to a cup of plain Panko bread crumbs and mixed until it was well coated with butter and then I let it bake for about 5 minutes. You got to constantly stir it to ensure it doesn't burn. Once it was nice and golden brown, I gently sifted it onto the mac & cheese in the crock pot and covered it was the lid. I turned it on to WARM and left it for about 15 minutes. I turned it off, kept the lid on and then covered it all with a clean kitchen towel to keep in the trapped heat.
Worked like a charm! This dish is so good with or without the bread crumb topping. I'm happy to share it. I'm not a food blogger. I'm just someone who is passionate about making food, eating and then sharing.
Crock Pot Whole Wheat Macaroni and Cheese
Serves 14
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 1.5-2 hours
3 cups whole wheat macaroni noodles (I used Fusilli)
5 cups milk
1 tsp salt
1 tsp ground mustard
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp paprika
2 TBSP butter
3/4 cups all purpose flour
2 oz cream cheese
4 cups shredded cheese
For the bread crumb topping:
1 TBSP butter
1 cup plain Panko bread crumbs
1 tsp oregano
- In a 6 quart crock pot dump in uncooked macaroni noodles, milk, spices and butter. Mix well. Cook on LOW for 1 hour.
- After 1 hour, stir contents and check done-ness of your noodles. Cook on LOW for another 30-60 minutes, until the pasta is al dente. Every machine varies so check at the 30 minute mark.
- Once pasta is al dente, add in the flour and whisk all the lumps out. Sauce should become thicker instantly. Next add in the cream cheese and whisk until fully incorporated. Last add in the shredded cheese one cup at a time to completely melt. Mix with a wooden spoon. Keep the pot on warm or cover with lid and a kitchen towel until ready to serve.
- Optional bread crumb topping: After adding in the cheese, cover the crock pot and move to the stove top. In a skillet over medium to medium-low heat, melt 1 TBSP butter then add 1 cup bread crumbs and mix until completely coated with butter. Add in the oregano and continue to stir and shake to bake the bread crumbs until golden-brown. Don't walk away from the stove! It will burn! Once the bread crumbs are toasted, uncover the crock pot and gently sift the bread crumbs in an even layer over the mac & cheese mixture. Cover the pot and keep it warm until serving. It won't be crispy like coming out of the oven but it adds another texture and flavor.
| Nutrition Facts | |
|---|---|
| Servings 14.0 | |
| Amount Per Serving | |
| calories 424 | |
| % Daily Value * | |
| Total Fat 19 g | 30 % |
| Saturated Fat 10 g | 51 % |
| Monounsaturated Fat 4 g | |
| Polyunsaturated Fat 1 g | |
| Trans Fat 0 g | |
| Cholesterol 55 mg | 18 % |
| Sodium 529 mg | 22 % |
| Potassium 309 mg | 9 % |
| Total Carbohydrate 46 g | 15 % |
| Dietary Fiber 5 g | 21 % |
| Sugars 5 g | |
| Protein 20 g | 40 % |
| Vitamin A | 12 % |
| Vitamin C | 0 % |
| Calcium | 38 % |
| Iron | 18 % |
| * The Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet, so your values may change depending on your calorie needs. The values here may not be 100% accurate because the recipes have not been professionally evaluated nor have they been evaluated by the U.S. FDA. | |
No comments:
Post a Comment