This ain’t your mama’s mac and cheese
Whether kid or grown-up, combining two classic dishes is a match made in heaven
When it’s your job to cook, it’s easy to get trapped in the food bubble and forget that for many people, just making a stir-fry or cookies from scratch is a huge accomplishment.
Forget the smoothie bowls and macarons carefully arranged on a distressed wood table in some imaginary farmhouse: People have less than an hour to get dinner ready after picking up the kids from baseball practice and only have access to a FreshCo for groceries.
That’s the audience Rose Reisman caters to. The Toronto-based food columnist has recipes in Metro News and developed healthier menu items for Pickle Barrel.
Her newest book, Rush Hour Meals ($24.95) has112 recipes aimed at parents and pretty much anyone who wants quick dinner or is just getting into cooking. The book: This isn’t one of those tomes you’d display on a coffee table but rather a paperback you’d expect to see covered in jarred tomato sauce stains and piled between opened mail and No Frills flyers by the phone on the kitchen counter.
Experienced home cooks won’t find these recipes groundbreaking with how-to’s on hoisin-glazed salmon and Tex-Mex beef tacos: the vibe here is less Edulis and more Milestones or Pickle Barrel.
But for beginners and rushed parents who just want something quick and relatively nutritious without trips to specialty grocers or waiting for things to marinate overnight, this is a good starting point.
My one quibble is that the prep times are sometimes wildly underestimated: Reisman may have been able to shred cheeses, chop vegetables, measure ingredients, preheat the oven and boil a big pot of water in 10 minutes, but it took me 30. The quote: “Our children’s lives are also busy, and when they move away from home they soon find that living a healthy lifestyle is not quite as easy as it used to be. They are suddenly responsible for their own shopping, food preparation, cooking and nutrition. It can be easy for them to make poor choices. As a parent, leading by example when our children are young and helping them to develop healthy habits that they can sustain later on is the key to their future success.” The tester: My parents are totally OK with me not having any children to pass on healthy eating habits to after seeing me awkwardly hold my niece like a cartoon bundle of dynamite with a clock attached.
However, with dad enjoying his new status as a retiree (and mom not too far off ), I often have to have lunch and dinner prepared for him since the only thing I’ve ever seen him make are scrambled eggs, toast and scrambled eggs on toast. Recipes I’m dying to make: Fresh tomato soup with grilled cheese croutons, black bean burgers, lemon chicken scaloppini, chocolate mousse cookie cups, miniature Mediterranean quiches
Pizza Mac and Cheese
Star Tested It’s essentially baked mac and cheese with pizza toppings: the best of both cheesy worlds for kids and drunken Netflix binge-watching nights.
Gooey on the inside and crispy on top, it’s a wonderfully bad-in-a-goodway dinner.
I replaced green peppers with its matured counterpart because frankly, I have yet to come across a recipe in which green bell peppers are superior to red, yellow or orange (email me if you do). I also swapped out tomato sauce for canned pizza sauce, doubled the mozzarella and added pepperoni to play up the pizza part.
It’s probably not what Reisman had in mind when creating her healthy meals for families, but hey, if you’re making something as monstrous- sounding as pizza mac and cheese, you gotta go all out. 3 cups (one 375g box) dried whole wheat penne pasta 3/4 cup (180 mL) no-salt-added chicken or vegetable stock 3/4 cup (180 mL) evaporated milk 2 tbsp (30 mL) all-purpose flour 1 cup (250 mL) grated old cheddar 1/4 cup (60 mL) grated parmesan 1/2 tsp (2 mL) Dijon mustard Salt, to taste 1/2 cup (125 mL) canned pizza sauce 1 cup (250 mL) grated mozzarella 10-12 pepperoni slices 1/2 cup (125 mL) diced sweet peppers 6 to 8 quartered cherry or grape tomatoes Italian seasoning, optional Chili flakes, optional Preheat oven to 375F (190 C). Lightly spray a large pie pan or ovenproof skillet with vegetable or canola oil.
In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook pasta until al dente according to package instructions. Drain and pour into pie pan.
Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan over medium heat, whisk together stock, milk and flour until well combined, slightly thickened and just under a simmer, about 3 minutes. Add cheddar, parmesan and mustard. Continue to whisk constantly until cheese has melted, about 1 minute. Add salt to taste.
Pour cheese sauce over pasta and toss to evenly coat. Using a spatula, flatten the pasta into an even layer. Spread pizza sauce evenly on top with back of a spoon. Sprinkle mozzarella, pepperoni, sweet peppers and tomatoes on top.
Bake for 30 to 40 minutes until cheese is bubbly and tomatoes and peppers are slightly crisp. Remove from oven, sprinkle with Italian seasoning or chili flakes, if using. Let cool for 5 minutes before serving.
Makes 6 to 8 servings. karonliu@thestar.ca