Panera Style Mac 'n Cheese with Cauliflour

Serves: 15
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes

Ingredients

• 1 head of Cauliflower
• 2 cups vegetable broth
• 2 pounds whole grain, organic elbow pasta or shells
• 1/2 cup organic butter (1 stick)
• 1/4 cup whole wheat, organic flour
• 1 Tb. salt
• 6 cups organic whole milk
• 1 tsp. dijon mustard
• 1/2 tsp. Louisiana Hot Sauce
• 16 ounces Vermont White Cheddar (Boars Head or other premium cheese)
• 10 to 12 ounces White American Cheese (Boars Head or other premium cheese)

Steps

1) Chop Cauliflower and boil in vegetable broth until soft.
2) Blend Cauliflower and broth until creamy and set aside.

3) Start the pasta by boiling salted water and cook the pasta while preparing the sauce.
4) Add the flour to the butter/onion mix and brown to create a rue base.
5) Add milk gradually until it is all incorporated.
6) Add the cauliflower blend and stir until fully incorporated.
7) Grate the cheese coarsely and add it to the rue (a food processor with a grater disc will do this quickly... I just ask the deli to thick slice it).
8) Add hot sauce and mustard and stir well.
9) Season with salt and pepper
10) Drain the noodles when cooked and mix them in with the sauce.
10) Let cool 5 mins then serve!

Tips

If you do not know what a rue is, go look it up. By far one of the more useful tips for cooking soups and casseroles. Also, when adding liquid to the Rue base, make sure to add it in slowly and let the browned flour incorporate the liquid… otherwise it will be chunky.