Friday, September 01, 2006

Chipotle Macaroni and Cheese

Last night we had a casual dinner party. And I mean casual! We had two good friends to dinner, and we all enjoyed each other's company while keeping things simple. We dined on a delicious eggplant salsa and hummus appetizer my friend brought from a store near where she works. I made Cooking Light's Chipotle Macaroni and Cheese and a huge salad, and I bought chocolate angel food cake from Whole Foods for dessert. I topped the cake with fresh peaches and nectarines and a dash of whipped cream from a can and it was easy and delicious!

We all really enjoyed the macaroni and cheese. With the cool and cloudy weather we've been having lately, I've found myself craving comfort foods like macaroni and cheese. And this was a recipe I've wanted to try. I did subsitute Muir Glen's Fire Roasted Tomatoes for the type of diced tomato called for in the recipe, which I would do again. The smoky taste of the fire-roasted tomatoes compliments the smoky taste in the chipotles well. M. thought the taste of chipotle was a bit overwhelming, and recommended cutting back a bit. So next time I make the dish, I'll only use one chili and see how that goes. But it is safe to say that this will be a dish repeated in this house as we both really enjoyed it. And so did our dinner guests.

Chipotle Macaroni and Cheese

Cooking Light's Notes - This macaroni and cheese is a favorite of ours because it is incredibly tasty and easy to prepare. You don't even have to make a white sauce for this creamy dish. The acidic tomatoes counter the richness of the cheeses.

1 (7-ounce) can chipotle chiles in adobo sauce
1 tablespoon butter
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
1/2 cup finely chopped green bell pepper
1 garlic clove, minced
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 (14 1/2-ounce) can diced tomatoes and green chiles, undrained
4 cups hot cooked elbow macaroni (about 2 cups uncooked)
2 cups (8 ounces) shredded reduced-fat sharp cheddar cheese
1 cup 1% low-fat cottage cheese
1 cup 2% reduced-fat milk
1/4 cup (1 ounce) grated fresh Parmesan cheese
1 large egg, lightly beaten
Cooking spray
3 tablespoons dry breadcrumbs

Preheat oven to 350°.

Remove 1 teaspoon adobo sauce from can; set aside. Remove 2 chipotle chiles from can; finely chop to measure 1 tablespoon. Reserve remaining chiles and adobo sauce for another use.

Melt butter in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add chopped chiles, onion, bell pepper, and garlic; cook 4 minutes or until onion is tender, stirring frequently. Sprinkle with flour; cook 30 seconds, stirring constantly. Reduce heat to medium; add tomatoes. Cook 3 minutes or until thickened. Add reserved 1 teaspoon adobo sauce, pasta, cheddar cheese, cottage cheese, milk, Parmesan, and egg; stir to combine. Spoon pasta mixture into a 2-quart baking dish coated with cooking spray; top with breadcrumbs. Bake at 350° for 30 minutes or until bubbly


Yield: 6 servings (serving size: about 1 cup)
CALORIES 324(24% from fat); FAT 8.5g (sat 4.6g,mono 2.4g,poly 0.6g); PROTEIN 34.2g; CHOLESTEROL 56mg; CALCIUM 307mg; SODIUM 756mg; FIBER 2g; IRON 2.4mg; CARBOHYDRATE 39.6g
Cooking Light, JULY 2004

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi-

Chipotle Macaroni and Cheese is one of favorite recipes. I usually make a double batch and my husband and I have it in our lunches. It has such a geat flavor!
I started subbing Ricotta for the cottage cheese - the 1st time because my cottage cheese had gone bad, but now I do it all the time. It makes it nice and creamy and you don't have the little clumps of cottage cheese.

Anonymous said...

That does sound excellent! Cooking Light gets it right so often but I like the little less chipotle (which I really love) and laurab's idea of the ricotta!

kickpleat said...

ooh, i love chipotle! yum, i bet it tastes great in mac n' cheese.

Heather said...

LauraB - Ricotta? I'll have to remember that. It seems like the kind of recipe I usually have ingredients for, but if I'm ever lacking the cottage cheese I'll know what to sub.

Tanna - I personally thought the chipotle was fine, but M. wanted less. It is a forgiving recipe though - easy to adjust.

Kickpleat - it does. You should definitely try it!