Ok, well the outlook is cloudy, with an outstanding chance of rain….for the next six months! So on that note I think this calls for a month of comfort foods. I will be putting my own spin on them and sharing many of my family’s favorites. I will sneak our veggie friends into as many as possible, don’t get me wrong these are not low fat, or anything, but I think the way to get folks into veg is to place them in something they already love and show them that veggies have a sultry side. Comfort foods is by far my best category, as I first started with these types of recipes when I started cooking independently (Age 8), and I love the non-pretentious joy that it brings to diners. Cooking for me is about love, it is a hand crafted way I can make people happy with media I understand. So try this out, if you can boil water and stir, you can easily recreate this for your loved ones, or whoever shows up…haha! Easy!
Serves 4 as main 6-8 as a side dish
• ½ of a 16oz package dried small shell pasta, or macaroni
• 3 cups broccoli florets, I used frozen from trader joes and cut them a bit smaller
• 2 cups shredded or grated cheese, use your favorite or a blend of several! Cheddar should be a player.
• 3 eggs
• 1 cup of milk
• ½ cup of sour cream
• 1 tsp. curry powder
• ½ tsp. salt
• ½ tsp. pepper
• Dash hot sauce
• ¼ cup parmesan or other salty hard cheese
• A dash or two of smoked paprika
• 2 tbsp. chopped parsley
Pre-heat oven to 350. Prep a casserole dish by greasing it with butter, or use cooking spray. Boil salted water, add pasta cook 6 minutes, add broccoli cook 1 more minute, drain. In a large bowl, add hot pasta and broccoli to 2 cups of cheese, stir, and place in casserole dish. In a mixing bowl add milk, eggs, sour cream, salt, pepper, hot sauce, and curry. Whip up omelet style, we are in essence making a soufflé of sort, and pour over pasta mixture, top with parm, paprika and ½ the parsley, bake 45 minutes, top with rest of parsley and serve! This is a really fast, easy, and tasty way to make mac and cheese as there is no béchamel to make. I read in the South this is a popular Thanksgiving side dish (regular mac and cheese variety) so it would be a great vegetarian option and mine is kicked up with some curry, hot sauce, and veggies to boot!