Zucchini Mac and Cheese

This healthy blog post will be brought to you by the Harwich, Mass. Public Library....thanking them for their wonderful free internet service while I am here on vacation. :-)

I feel immediately in love with this recipe....not only does it have cheese and pasta in it but also zucchini! And it tastes sooooo good!!! - even without butter!  Many thanks goes out to SnoWhite the creator of the  amazing blog called,  Finding Joy in My Kitchen - this is where I discovered this recipe.  SnoWhite provides yummy and  healthy recipes in abundance and she has amazing taste that allows her recipes to taste GOOD and HEALTHY.  For all of you that have crazy crazy amounts of zucchini this is the blog to go to - SnoWhite has volumes and volumes of delicious zucchini recipes!!!  I can't wait to try more of them in the near future.

Zucchini Mac and Cheese

(recipe from Finding Joy in My Kitchen)

Ingredients:

1 1/4 cup milk (I used 2%)

1/2 lb. pasta (whole wheat or plain)

1 1/2 Tbsp. flour (white whole wheat is suggested....although I used just white)

4 oz. Parmesan cheese, grated

4 oz. extra sharp cheddar cheese, grated

2 cups zucchini, shredded and drained

Salt and pepper - to taste

1/2 a sleeve of Ritz Crackers - crushed (whole wheat or seasoned bread crumbs can also be used)

Directions:

1. Grate cheese and zucchini......

2. Take shredded zucchini and place in a thin clean kitchen towel or a couple of paper towels and squeeze/ring out as much water as possible.....

This is very important to do for you want as little moisture as possible from the zucchini or else your mac and cheese dish will be watery - just like the "Great Lakes", as Sno White states. :-)

3. Toss zucchini with a couple shakes of salt and pepper....

4. Boil pasta until just about done. Drain pasta and place in a large bowl.

4. Add in zucchini and parm cheese to the pasta....

......mix well all together.

5. Place pasta, zucchini and parm cheese mixture into a well greased 9x9 glass baking dish.

6. Time to make the sauce - combine flour and milk in a large measuring cup and whisk.....

.....get all the large bumps out by whisking.

7. Pour milk/flour mixture into a medium saucepan.  Heat over medium heat, stirring frequently until it thickens.  Be patient, this takes a good 5-7 minutes until it thickens...

Once it thickens remove from heat and add in grated cheddar cheese.....

Stir to combine and melt into the warm milk/flour thickened mixture.

8. Pour 2/3 of the cheese mixture over the pasta and zucchini....

Stir sauce into pasta mixture gently.  Then add remaining cheese sauce over the top.

9. Sprinkle dish with crushed Ritz crackers or bread crumbs....

Bake in a preheated 400 degrees F. oven for 15 minutes, until heated through lightly browned and bubbly...

Serve with happiness knowing that you will be feeding your family something healthy and delish!

Happy Zucchini Mac and Cheese Baking!

This post has been linked to....

Mommy's Kitchen for Pot Luck Monday