Macaroni and Cheese with Cauliflower, Tuna, and Egyptian Roumy Cheese
This sounds good, but the Roumy cheese could prove very difficult to find. If you cannot find this, substitute Romano cheese in its place. With the tuna (best to use fresh tuna you cooked, not canned) and the cauliflower, this is a complete meal. Link to the shortcut is listed in the Recipe Notes section.
Ingredients
- 225 grams pasta, of your choice, Canneroni works well
- 1 kilo fresh cauliflower, cut into bite size pieces, include stem
- 200 grams white Cheddar cheese, shredded, cannot find it, go with mild Cheddar
- 80 grams Roumy cheese, shredded, cannot find it, go with Romano
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 large onion, diced
- 2 cloves garlic, smashed and minced
- 1 teaspoon dried rosemary
- 3 1/2 tablespoons all purpose flour
- 3 cups milk, room temperature
- 1 1/2 teaspoons Worcherstershire sauce
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/8 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 can tuna, in water, drained, OR use 1/2 cup fresh, OR make from a shortcut
- 1/2 cup fresh parsley, chopped
Instructions
- Cook the pasta according to the package directions, drain, toss with just a touch of olive oil to prevent sticking, and set aside.
- Bring a pot of water up to a rolling boil, add the cauliflower and cook until fork-tender, about 5 minutes, drain and set aside.
- Toss together the white Cheddar and Roumy cheeses in a bowl, measure out ¾ cup and reserve it for the topping.
- Add the oil to a medium large pot over medium-high heat. Add the onion and cook until softened, but not browned, about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Turn the heat down to medium and add the garlic and rosemary; cook 1 minute more, stirring constantly. Whisk in the flour and cook 1 minute, then gradually whisk in the milk; stir in the Worcestershire sauce, salt, and black pepper. Bring to a gentle boil, stirring constantly, and then remove from heat.
- Whisk in the cheese, except the reserved amount) until smooth. Stir in the pasta, cauliflower, tuna, and parsley. Taste and season with additional salt and pepper as desired.
- Preheat your broiler (counter top ovens, use the top coil) and butter a 9x13-inch baking dish. Pour the pasta mixture into the dish and sprinkle the reserved 3/4 cup of cheese on top. Broil until the cheese melts and is bubbly. Serve.
Notes
Cheese would be the most costly item here in this recipe, all the rest is minimal. White Cheddar I cannot price, nor the Roumy. Yellow Cheddar, imported from New Zealand will run about 180 Baht for 200 grams. If you cannot find Romano cheese, go with 230 grams of Cheddar. Go with fresh tuna and that will reduce your cost even further, the rule is 1/2 cup of fresh cooked tuna = 1 can of tuna. We'll say 200 Baht for the cheese and 40 baht for a can of tuna, this comes out to about $1.75 per person for 4 meals, and $1.18 per person for 6 meals. Overall, not bad. Fresh tuna would reduce this.
Variants would be, cooked shredded or diced chicken instead of tuna, spring onions instead of parsley (need that green or the dish would look really bland), broccoli instead of or with the cauliflower.
Shortcut: Tuna.
Adapted from an internet recipe.
Leave a Reply