Lose the fat, not the flavor! Morningstar Mac 'N' Cheese

 

When Morningstar Farms says "lose the fat, not the flavor," what do you think of as far as the flavor of the food?  I used to think that it was all TOFU and I wanted nothing to do with it!

Wow was I ever wrong.  I had the following products and LOVED THEM ALL!  One in particular is the meal that John basically made that I started.  Without his help in this I would have been totally stuck for time.  We had a party and I needed to decorate for the event!  Due to privacy to our party goers on the Internet, we are not actually showing the party pictures.  But I will show pictures of the meal and my husband who worked so hard on helping me with this meal.

We start with Michael Symon's Mac 'N' Cheese recipe and then we start tweaking it with the Morningstar Farms food products using:

MorningStar Farms® Veggie Bacon Strips

 and

Morningstar Farms® Meal Starters® Grillers® Recipe Crumbles™

Michael Symon's Mac 'N' Cheese Recipe

Ingredients

• 1 Pound Bacon (diced)
• 3 tablespoons All Purpose flour
• 1 Onion (diced)
• 1 Butternut squash (peeled and diced)
• 2 Cloves Garlic (minced)
• 1 Quart Half & Half (plus 3 cups)
• 1 Pinch Nutmeg
• 1 Bunch Parsley (chopped)
• 1 Pound Rigatoni
• 1 Cup Gruyere
• 1 Cup Marscarpone
• 2 Cups Bread Crumbs

Step by step directions. We've Made Cooking As Easy As 1-2-3!

• ingredients 1 Pound Rigatoni
  instructions Bring 6 quarts of water to boil in a large pot. Add 2 table spoons of salt. Cook the rigatoni in boiling water until tender. Drain, then set aside.
• ingredients 1 Pound Bacon (diced)
  1 Onion (diced)
  1 Butternut squash (peeled and diced)
  2 Cloves Garlic (minced)
  1 Quart Half & Half (plus 3 cups)1 Pinch Nutmeg
  1 Cup Gruyere
  1 Cup Marscarpone
  3 tablespoons All Purpose flour
  instructions Cook bacon until crisp. Sweat onion, butternut squash, and garlic in pan until translucent, then add flour to pan to make roux. Slowly pour in half and half while mixing, and bring mixture to simmer. Add in 1/2 of the gruyere and nutmeg, and constantly stir until all of the cheese is melted. Add the marscarpone and mix until melted and combined. Add the cooked rigatoni and toss pasta until it’s well mixed in the cheese mixture.
• ingredients 1 Bunch Parsley (chopped)
  2 Cups Bread Crumbs
  instructions In a medium mixing bowl, toss bread crumbs, remaining gruyere and parsley. Sprinkle the bread crumb mixture over the casserole and bake at 375-400F for 5-8 minutes (until the top is golden brown).

and then you come up with:

Mac N Cheese with Morningstar Farms products

Thanking the major CHEF JOHN!

My husband John with the 2 casseroles that this recipe made!  Enough for 12 people.

We are pleased to say that there are left-overs for us.  With this cold weather that we've been having here at the beach this winter, a solid MEATLESS MEAL is just what we need!  We're planning on using the MorningStar Farms® Veggie Bacon Strips for breakfast soon and also the Morningstar Farms® Meal Starters® Grillers® Recipe Crumbles™ for an incredible portabello mushroom meal that Carolyn makes.  That's me! 

We ended the evening with a game where they won coupons for the Morningstar Farms products and that was a big hit!  A number of them have promised to have the group back together in their houses now before summer arrives and we are all grilling!  Of course we can always grill the burgers that Morningstar Farms makes. 

YES, every person I spoke with in person or communicated with online mentioned in this BzzReport knows that I'm a BzzAgent and that I received a product sample, coupon, collateral or other special premium from BzzAgent.

From FOOD NETWORK:  50 Mac N Cheese Recipes