There's something that always feels so indulgent aboutthose individual bowls of frozen macaroni and cheese. It has something to do with the fact that I grew up in a house where they were a novelty, something to do with how satisfyingly tidy the individually-portioned package feels, and something to do with how that orange cheese sauce magically holds just the right texture of thick and creamy no matter what.
Here in the Epi Test Kitchen I wanted to capture that individual indulgence and convenience in a homemade version, but keep it gluten-free and just a little bit healthier. It was harder than I thought it would be to nail this one, but after many goes, I developed a recipe that works just as well cooked from fresh or from frozen and in a large dish to serve four or in individually portioned dishes. It's loaded with lots of melty cheese as comforting as a sweater hug, but it's completely grain-free (and low-carb, too boot). Here's how to make it happen:
Cauliflower is the grain-free solution to all sorts of things these days—here in the Epi Test Kitchen we recently got deep into making "rice" out of it. So why not macaroni too? Ok, so the quarter-inch pieces of cauliflower don't resemble macaroni noodles quite as well as shredded cauliflower resembles rice, but they're close enough, and they taste great. Cauliflower rice,we recently discovered,最好是由快速蒸微wave. The same is true for my cauliflower elbow-noodle replacements—other cooking methods left them too soggy. Even after steaming the chopped cauliflower in the microwave, you want to let it dry out a bit in a colander or spread out on a clean dish towel so that it doesn't leach water into your cream sauce later and make the whole thing separate in gross ways.
Traditionally, the sauce formac and cheese starts with a rouxmade with flour and butter, which thickens the sauce and keeps it from separating. For a grain-free version, cream cheese lends the structure and binding power you need without having to dip into the flour bin. Gently melted with milk, cream cheese adds body and extra creaminess to the base of the cheese sauce, while the stabilizers in it help keep the sauce together through freezing and re-heating. Don't melt your shredded cheese into the base of your cream sauce, though. Instead, let the sauce cool a bit, toss the cooled cauliflower "pasta" into it, andthenadd the cheese. This way, the cheese won't melt until it's in the oven, and each forkful of mac will give you that commercial-ready pull of irresistible melted cheese.
The sauce works just as well if you bake it fresh or if you freeze the whole dish and bake it later, but you have to do one thing to ensure success if you're cooking from frozen: You have to stir it. Just once. Two-thirds of the way through its time in the oven (or microwave). That way, the casserole will thaw evenly and become insanely luscious all the way through.
Cauliflower roasted in curry powder is one of my favorite things. Curry powder in mac 'n cheese, though? Trust me, it works wonders here, since our mac is secretly cauliflower. Sweetly spiced curry helps round out and tame the cruciferous-ness of the cauliflower, and adds natural cheesy-yellow color to the sauce to boot. Paired with a little bit of mustard, curry powder gives oomph and depth and even a touch of sophistication to the childhood classic.
Once you assemble your cheesy cauliflower casserole, you can bake it and eat it right away, or you can do what I like to do and divide it between four small rectangular glass containers with airtight lids and pop them in the freezer like money in the bank for a rainy day. The success of that investment depends on the container you use though. They have to freezer-to-oven safe. We usethis setfrom Snapware in the Epi Test Kitchen, but anything made from tempered glass that's clearly labeled as being freezer to oven safe should work just fine. Another option? Disposable foil casserole dishes. If your chosen bakeware doesn't have a lid, simply cover it with a few layers of plastic wrap and then a layer of foil before freezing. You can keep your cauliflower 'n cheese in the freezer for about 3 months—or until you run out and need to make a new batch.
If you do freeze individual portions of this dish, you get to choose how you want to heat it. There's the oven, which takes awhile but ensures you get a nicely browned cheesy crust on top. Or there's the microwave, which takes about ten minutes, but only really works for one individual serving at a time. When you need that mac 'n cheese fix in a hurry and it's just you and no one else, you're probably willing to forfeit the cheesy crust on top to dig in that fast, right? It's all good—just remember to give it that stir.
Round light-colored plate courtesy of Molly Bryck
