While working for SLT I won a 2 year subscription to Bon Appetit. It's a blessing and a curse. I love to sift through the gorgeous photos and yummy recipes, but then it just sits there on the coffee table or on the magazine rack for months tempting me and making me feel guilty for being too lazy and selfish to make any of the recipes. There is a gigantic stack and I've only used one or two recipes.
The March issue came and as soon as I saw it I knew I couldn't resist it anymore. Baked pastas are featured this month and on the cover a dish of bubbling hot mac and cheese sits with a fork lifting up an ooey gooey bite. I immediately started scheming. Why scheming? Because I'm officially on a diet to lose the baby weight, and mac and cheese is hardly diet food.
I decided to combine a cream sauce recipe I have that calls for low fat cream cheese and 1% milk with a bag of a lowfat shredded Italian cheese blend and whole grain rigatoni. I hoped that this combo would still be delicious enough to calm my craving for a "sumptuous baked pasta" while maintaining my diet integrity.
Last Friday night we had friends over and I tested out my recipe on our guests. I think it's safe to say they liked it...clean plates all around! Some of us even had seconds, I had an extra spoonful ok? It really was good and lowfat and packed full of veggies and I felt satisfied.
First you'll need to roast one large or two small bulbs of garlic for one hour, cool and pull out each clove of garlic with a fork then set aside. Boil whole grain or semolina pasta (I used rigatoni but ziti will work well also) until al dente and set aside.
White Sauce
Use a roux whip to stir 1 Tbsp. flour into 2 Tbsp. melted butter over medium heat, then gradually add 2 cups of 1% or skim milk. Stir constantly until it begins to thicken-about 4 minutes-and add 1 8 oz. package of lowfat cream cheese and 2 Tbsp of grated parmesan cheese. While stirring add 1 Tbsp. Onion Powder and 2 tsp. of Garlic Salt.
The March issue came and as soon as I saw it I knew I couldn't resist it anymore. Baked pastas are featured this month and on the cover a dish of bubbling hot mac and cheese sits with a fork lifting up an ooey gooey bite. I immediately started scheming. Why scheming? Because I'm officially on a diet to lose the baby weight, and mac and cheese is hardly diet food.
I decided to combine a cream sauce recipe I have that calls for low fat cream cheese and 1% milk with a bag of a lowfat shredded Italian cheese blend and whole grain rigatoni. I hoped that this combo would still be delicious enough to calm my craving for a "sumptuous baked pasta" while maintaining my diet integrity.
Last Friday night we had friends over and I tested out my recipe on our guests. I think it's safe to say they liked it...clean plates all around! Some of us even had seconds, I had an extra spoonful ok? It really was good and lowfat and packed full of veggies and I felt satisfied.
White Sauce
Use a roux whip to stir 1 Tbsp. flour into 2 Tbsp. melted butter over medium heat, then gradually add 2 cups of 1% or skim milk. Stir constantly until it begins to thicken-about 4 minutes-and add 1 8 oz. package of lowfat cream cheese and 2 Tbsp of grated parmesan cheese. While stirring add 1 Tbsp. Onion Powder and 2 tsp. of Garlic Salt.
Stir until all of the cheese is combined and sauce is hot.
Veggies- I used about 10 spears of asparagus and half of a large head of cauliflower cut into bite size pieces and steamed. Then I sauteed half of a large onion and half of a red bell pepper in olive oil and sea salt. Once onions and peppers were soft I added the other veggies to the skillet and seasoned with oregano, garlic salt, and basil to taste.
Combine all of the above plus one 8 oz. package of shredded mozzarella, or an Italian blend like I found at Smith's, in a covered casserole and bake at 350 for 30 minutes. Serves 4-6
Bon Appetit!
-Natasha
Bon Appetit!
-Natasha
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