Cheese macaroni is one of my quick comfortable comfort dishes to do when I feel too lazy to cook.
So when I learned that Martha Stewart had a way to make this classic recipe even more quickly, I decided to try it. Stewart’s “Cheater’s Mac and Cheese” recipe has only six ingredients and takes 20 minutes to prepare.
Here’s how I made the meal to a pot.
I started by gathering and preparing the ingredients.
Paige Bennett
The recipe provides six ingredients: 1 ½ cup of fresh or frozen broccoli, 4 ounces of short pasta (Penne is recommended), 2 ½ ounces (cup) of cream cheese, 1 tablespoon of non-salty butter, ½ ounce (⅓ cup) of pariminian-reggiano and salt. Black pepper is also optional, but I decided to use it.
I opted for the frozen broccoli because I always keep the flagships in the freezer, and because it reduced my preparation time.
The only minor obstacle that I faced during the preparation process was to measure the amonggian-reggiano. I used my kitchen scale to weigh the ½ ounce (⅓ cup) of cheese, but when I added it to the measurement cup, it quickly overflowed despite the scale which reading only 0.1 ounces.
I had to closely pack the finely grated cheese in the cup to obtain the ½ desired ounce.
Then I cooked the pasta and the broccoli.
Paige Bennett
I started by boiling penne pasta in salt water. The recipe said it boils the noodles two minutes below the dente, so I let them cook for nine minutes rather than the 10 to 12 minutes recommended by the box.
When the weather was sold, I removed 1 cup of pasta water to use later and added in the frozen broccoli. I let the broccoli cook with the pasta for two minutes before drainage of water and put them aside.
Then it was time to make the cheese sauce.
Paige Bennett
From there, I simmered the butter, the cream cheese and ⅔ of the cup of pasta water in my empty pot.
The cream cheese does not initially decompose in the pasta water, so I had to use a whisk to smooth the sauce, which was a small drawback.
When the sauce was ready, I combined all my ingredients in the pot.
Paige Bennett
Then I added the pasta, the broccoli and the amonggian-reggiano in the pot and I stirred until the sauce has completely coated the noodles.
The ½ ounce of cheese ended up being the right amount for the sauce, which was cheesy, but not too salty, grainy or stringy.
I didn’t even need to add the last ⅓ cup of pasta water because the sauce was already clinging to noodles, creating a creamy and silky coating.
I finished the dish with an additional pinch of freshly grated cheese and black pepper, as recommended.
It is now a recipe for comfort for me.
Paige Bennett
The final pasta had a certain delivery of cream cheese, but a lot of salinity from the amonggian-reggiano and the earthy notes of the broccoli.
I also loved the speed with which this recipe met. I had a dish of creamy and comforting pasta ready for lunch in a few minutes in a very busy working day.
Although Stewart’s recipe calls broccoli, he also said that pea or cauliflower flagships would be good alternatives. I think this recipe would taste with a lot of different vegetables, such as asparagus and mushrooms, so I can’t wait to experience in the future.