The crinkly whisper in the air signals the advent of fall. And nothing complements the cooler weather like macaroni and cheese. Not the kind that comes in a blue box with a packet of yellow powder. But the one that gets all crispy on top from being baked.
Inspired by the chilliness, I made my first macaroni and cheese last night. I wanted to see if I could make a delicious mac and cheese with brown rice pasta and goat milk products. And I wanted to use up some swiss chard. It wasn’t a cheap casserole when it was over, but it was more than tasty. I used goat gouda, goat cheddar and goat monterey jack, as well as goat milk. Although I used brown rice pasta, it wasn’t gluten free because I used regular flour for the cheese sauce and panko breadcrumbs to top it off. Looking back, I could’ve used rice flour and crumbled rice crackers.
I combined a recipe from Alton Brown and Epicurious. Both included swiss chard. Topping the casserole with cumin seed really made the dish stand out. But I only put it on half the casserole, in case it was too adult for the kids.
It packed easily in S’s lunch today, as does most pasta.