Tag: Cheese

Cauliflower & Broccoli Macaroni Bites

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When cauliflower cheese and macaroni cheese collide.

I made this recipe for child nutritionist Charlotte Stirling-Reed. She loved the idea of these muffins for baby led weaning. For more information on this topic head to her website.

Makes approximately 15 muffins

Ingredients

  • 180g macaroni – I have used a high fibre variety
  • 150g broccoli, cut into small florets
  • 150g cauliflower, cut into small florets
  • 40g butter
  • 45g plain flour
  • 600ml milk*
  • 1 tsp English mustard (optional)
  • 120g reduced fat cheddar cheese*, grated
  • Pepper to taste
  • 1 egg
  • Oil for greasing OR muffin cases

Method

  • Preheat the oven to 180°C fan/ 200°C convection
  • Bring a large pan of water to boil. Cook the macaroni according to packet instructions, and steam the cauliflower and broccoli over the top of the pasta as it cooks.
  • Meanwhile, melt the butter in a saucepan and add the flour.
  • Slowly add in the milk a quarter at a time, stirring to prevent any lumps.
  • Option to add 1 teaspoon of English mustard.
  • Add half the grated cheese to the mix and allow to melt. Season with pepper to taste
  • Once the pasta is cooked, drain and stir into the sauce with the cauliflower and broccoli.
  • Add the egg and mix.
  • Line a muffin tray with cases, or lightly grease a non-stick tray. Fill each hole with mixture (2-3 spoonful’s).
  • Top with the reaming half of cheese.
  • Bake in the oven for 18-20 minutes till golden brown.
  • Allow to cool completely in trays before removing unless in muffin cases, in which case you can remove after 5 minutes.

Suitable for freezing as easy grab and go options. Can be served cold, microwaved or oven heated.

*For children aged 2 and under use full fat dairy products including cheeses.

If you need an egg-free option you can omit the egg, but you will need to completely cool the bites in the tray and the chill them in the fridge before removing them so they can set in shape.

If you’re more of a traditionalist, you can make standard macaroni cheese by leaving the egg out and placing the mixture in an ovenproof dish. Simply top with the remaining half of cheese and bake in an oven set to 180°C fan for 25 minutes till golden brown and bubbling. You could also prep this dish ahead of time, pop it in the fridge and then bake for an easy mid-week meal for the family.

Per bite: 126kcal/ 5.2g fat/ 3.1g saturated fat/ 12.7g carbohydrates/ 2.2g fibre/ 6.2g protein

Spinach and Cottage Cheese Quiche

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This is my brother’s favourite quiche. Full of delicious spinach, and a surprise ingredient, cottage cheese. I’ve added a few extra ingredients to the traditional recipe we originally used, this is to add a little extra fibre diversity, but also gives a little more depth of flavour.

The surprising use of cottage cheese in this dish means that some of the cream is replaced by this lower-fat dairy product. Cottage cheese is a low-fat cheese made using both curds and whey, meaning it retains some of the protein found in some dairy products. The little curds stay whole in the quiche so you get delicious nuggets of soft cheese throughout the quiche, giving an amazing texture and taste to the dish. No wonder it has been a favourite of my brothers for such a long time!

If you don’t have a 9″ flan tin, you can make smaller quiches using cupcake or muffin trays. Growing up my mum would always make these for birthday parties, so making mini individual quiches is perfect for hungry little fingers! It also freezes really well; if you want to serve them hot from the freezer, only partially cook them the first time round so you can re-crisp the pastry in the oven after defrosting.

This is perfect as a light dinner, or even served cold at a picnic or to take to work for lunch. I love serving it simply with a salad.

If you don’t want to make your own pastry then shop bought is fine. I use a full butter recipe in my shortcrust pastry recipe, but for those who need to watch their saturated fat intakes, using shop bought vegetable fat based shortcrust pastry is an option here. If you need to make a gluten-free version, use a gluten-free pastry, or alternatively if you want a crustless quiche butter the sides of a cake tin.

Serves 4 as a main, 6 for a lighter lunch or starter

Ingredients

  • 260g shortcrust pastry
  • 1 onion, finely diced
  • 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
  • 400g spinach, fresh or frozen
  • 1/2 nutmeg, grated
  • 300g cottage cheese
  • 3 large eggs
  • 50 parmesan, grated
  • 90ml double cream
  • 100g tomatoes, sliced

Method

  • Roll the pastry out to a thickness of 2mm and line a 9″ flan tin, leaving excess pastry overhanging the edge. Chill in the fridge.
  • Preheat the oven to 180°C fan, 190°C convection, and once up to temperature, prick the base of the pastry with a fork and blind bake the pastry case using non-stick paper and baking beans or dried rice for 15 minutes.
  • Remove the baking beans and paper and return the tin to the oven for a further 5 minutes.
  • Meanwhile, gently fry the onion in the oil till soft before adding the spinach and cooking until all the water evaporates. Turn off the heat and allow to cool slightly.
  • Mix the cottage cheese, eggs, parmesan and double cream together and season with nutmeg and pepper to taste.
  • Once the spinach has cooled, add to the wet ingredients and mix before pouring into the pastry case.
  • Top with sliced tomatoes and bake for 30-35 minutes till puffed up and golden brown*^.

Per sixth of a quiche: 376kcal/ 22.9g fat/ 13.5g saturated fat/ 24.9g carbohydrates/ 2.0g fibre/ 16.4g protein

*If freezing, part bake for 15-20 minutes till puffed up but without a golden brown colour. Allow to cool fully before storing in an airtight container in the freezer for up to 3 months. To reheat, pre-heat the oven to 180°C fan, 190°C convection, place back into the tin, and bake for 15 minutes till golden brown.

^If making mini individual quiches cook for 15-20 minutes.

Spinach Macaroni

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I have lovely fond memories of walking into Godalming high street and lunching with friends in the local vegetarian and yoga café.

This gorgeous café, Café Mila, inspired this dish. Here I have had countless macaroni cheese dishes after walking several miles to get there, all as part of a team challenge to accumulate the highest number of steps.

I always remember the dish coming out, golden brown bubbling cheese covering macaroni with swirls of spinach. This dish is worth the trek! I do love my macaroni cheese, so sometimes I make my own “lighter” version by using reduced-fat cheddar cheese to help keep the total saturated fat under some control. However, if you don’t eat this all the time, and I don’t, using standard fat cheddar is completely fine. In addition, using mature or extra mature cheddar gives a stronger cheese flavour which can help you keep the quantity of cheese used overall lower.

This dish is perfect to make at the weekend when you have time, and then store in the fridge for a quick and easy meal later in the week. Alternatively, why not try making a larger batch and popping one in the freezer. Cooling cooked pasta has been shown to help further increase the fibre content through the formation of resistant starch, adding other benefits to this dish!

Another great way to increase the fibre content of this dish is to use high fibre pasta. This could either be using wholemeal pasta, where the whole grain is used or alternatively, there are now ranges of high fibre pastas. These are where fibre, such as oat, are added to the pasta before it is shaped. Adding extra fibre to your diet in this way is a really easy method for increasing your fibre intake without much effort. On average UK people eat only an average of 18g fibre per day, and the target is 30g fibre per day. This dish contains 5.7g fibre, but a simple swap to fibre enriched pasta could boost the fibre up to 12g per portion!

Serves 2

Recipe 

  • 15g butter
  • 20g plain flour
  • 360ml semi-skimmed milk
  • ½ tsp English mustard
  • 100g mature cheddar cheese, grated
  • 150g dried pasta
  • 140g spinach

Method 

  • Set the oven to 180°C fan/190°C convection.
  • Melt the butter in a medium-sized saucepan. Add the flour and cook for 1 minute before adding the milk a little at a time, stirring constantly till thick. Add the mustard and half the cheddar cheese and season with pepper to taste.
  • Meanwhile, cook the pasta for 2 minutes less than the packet instructions.
  • Once the pasta is cooked, add the spinach into the cheese sauce and mix, followed by the drained pasta.
  • Pour everything into an ovenproof dish and top with the remaining cheese and cook in the oven for 15-20 minutes till the top is golden brown and bubbling.
Spinach Macaroni Cheese

Per serving: 711kcal/ 28.9g fat/ 17.4g saturated fat/ 78.6g carbohydrates/ 5.7g fibre/ 31.7g protein