*Be sure and check back with me tomorrow, as I announce the first ever giveaway here on Tummy Treasure! You don’t want to miss it!

Hey, we can’t win them all.

The September issue of Cooking Light magazine has a feature this month on comfort foods and cravings.  They have recipes for things like oven fries, chicken fried steak and macaroni and cheese.  The gist of the article is that you should give in to your cravings once in a while when you have them, and just have a small portion of what it is that you are craving.  Because when you ignore a craving, it just gets worse and worse, and eventually, you may binge and go overboard.  Sounds like good, sage advice to me! So when I saw the recipe for Three-Cheese Macaroni and Cheese and saw that it included Gorgonzola cheese, I knew I had to make that mac-n-cheese.

I knew right off the bat that if I was making this for the kids, the Gorgonzola would have to go.  There was no way I was going to sneak stinky cheese past my kids.  I planned ahead to divide the cheese sauce recipe and add provolone to their half, and Gorgonzola to my half.  Additionally, I would need to forego the panko crumb topping.  I recently threw out my package of panko because I decided that I don’t care for it.  While it does add a spectacular crunch, it doesn’t add anything else.  It has no flavor at all, even when toasted.  Standard breadcrumbs give you that toasty bread flavor, and while not as crunchy as panko, work quite well as a crumb topping.  For my pasta, I chose to use one of the new Piccolini pastas from Barilla.  Have you seen these?  They’re mini pasta shapes that cook up in only seven minutes.  I’ve seen the wheels, bowties, and penne at my store, and I opted to go with the mini wheels for my kids.

The sauce came together really quickly, and using the Piccolini pasta, I had little ramekins of mac-n-cheese ready to go in the oven in no time.  At the last minute, I added a few tiny sprigs of fresh tarragon to the top of mine, specifically so I wouldn’t get confused and accidentally give the kids Gorgonzola cheese.  Twenty-five minutes later, I called the kids to the table and served them up their own little ramekins of pasta.  Um, yeah… Zander looked at it, looked at me, and almost burst into tears.  “I thought we were having macaroni and cheese?” (Which happens to be his favorite food.) He couldn’t get past that crumb topping, and didn’t even want to try it, so I helped him scoop off the topping, but he still only managed a bite or two of the tiny wheels.  Abigail put on her brave hat and took a few scoops of the pasta, topping and all, and gave me today’s title, “Mommy, this isn’t macaroni and cheese.”  She ate a little more than Zander, but quickly busied herself with the corn on the cob and natural Polish sausage we were also having. Needless to say, the kids were not fans.  At all.

As for my portion, I thought it was very good.  The gorgonzola really made the sauce extra creamy and gave it a luscious velvetty texture- even though it had been baked.  The gorgonzola flavor was definitely there, and while not overwhelming in the least, if someone wasn’t a fan of gorgonzola, they wouldn’t like this dish.  The tarragon that I’d sprinkled on top actually added to it as well, and were I to make it again, I would seriously consider adding some straight to the macaroni and cheese sauce.  However, given the reactions of my little monsters, I don’t know that I’ll be making this again.  Since it was really rich, it definitely wasn’t a main course either, but I think it would compliment a steak beautifully.  This would be a great thing to make for company, as the presentation in the individual ramekins is very nice and classy, so I definitely recommend it.  I just don’t recommend it for children whose perfect idea of macaroni and cheese includes a block of Velveeta.

Three Cheese Macaroni and Cheese

1 teaspoon olive oil
1 cup finely chopped onion (about 1 medium)
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 garlic clove, minced
1 1/2 cups 1% low-fat milk
1 bay leaf
1/2 cup (2 ounces) crumbled Gorgonzola cheese
3/4 cup (3 ounces) grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, divided
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 cups uncooked elbow macaroni (about 8 ounces)
Cooking spray
2/3 cup (about 2 1/2 ounces) shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
2/3 cup panko (Japanese breadcrumbs)
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1. Heat oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add onion to pan; cook
8 minutes or until tender, stirring occasionally. Add flour and garlic;
cook 1 minute, stirring constantly. Stir in milk and bay leaf; bring to a
boil. Cook 2 minutes or until thick, stirring constantly with a whisk. Add
Gorgonzola, 1/2 cup Parmigiano-Reggiano, and salt; stir until cheeses
melt. Discard bay leaf.

2. Preheat oven to 375°.

3. Cook pasta in boiling water 5 minutes or until almost tender, omitting
salt and fat; drain well. Add pasta to cheese mixture, stirring well.
Place about 1/2 cup pasta mixture into each of 6 (1-cup) ramekins coated
with cooking spray. Sprinkle evenly with mozzarella. Top evenly with
remaining pasta mixture. Combine remaining 1/4 cup Parmigiano-Reggiano and
panko; sprinkle evenly over pasta mixture. Spray lightly with cooking
spray; sprinkle with black pepper. Bake at 375° for 25 minutes or until
heated.

Yield
6 servings (serving size: about 1 ramekin)