Hide the veggies by whizzing them into your cheese sauce for sneaky veg boost. Sure the colour's a bit of a giveaway, but it's still an easy way to boost your 5-a-day!
Using a shop-bought cheese sauce or bechamel makes this low ingredient hidden-veg mac cheese really speedy to assemble, and blending the sauce and greens creates a silky smooth vibrantly coloured sauce packed with vegetable goodness.
The cheesy breadcrumb topping adds a lovely crunch, but you could top it just with extra cheese (torn mozzarella would be a great addition) if you want a more gooey finish.
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Yields:
4 serving(s)
Prep Time:
20 mins
Cook Time:
25 mins
Total Time:
45 mins
Cal/Serv:
555
Ingredients
200 g broccoli florets
300 g macaroni pasta
100 g frozen chopped spinach
250 g ready-made bechamel, we used Cooks' Ingredients Bechamel Sauce
150 g Cheddar, coarsely grated
25 g dried breadcrumbs
Directions
Step 1Bring a large pan of salted water to boil and cook the broccoli for 4min, or until tender. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the broccoli to a high-speed blender.
Step 2Cook the pasta in the boiling water according to pack instructions. Drain well and return to the empty pan.
Step 3Preheat oven to 200°C (180°C fan) mark 6. Meanwhile add the frozen spinach to the blender with 100ml water, 100g bechamel, 75g Cheddar and plenty of seasoning. Whizz until smooth. Scrape into the pasta pan, add remaining 150g bechamel and stir to combine. Transfer to a rough 1.5 litre ovenproof serving dish.
Step 4In a small bowl mix the breadcrumbs, remaining 75g Cheddar and some seasoning. Scatter over the pasta. Cook in the oven for 10min.
Step 5Preheat grill to high (if yours takes a while to get hot, remove the dish while preheating) and cook for 3min, or until the golden and bubbling. Serve.
Can I use fresh spinach instead?
Yes, you'll just need to wilt it down first in a hot pan before whizzing with the sauce at step 3
I'm not vegetarian, can I add some meat?
Some bacon lardons, fried until golden, would add a lovely salty bite. Stir them into the pasta at step 3.
Per serving:
Calories: 555
Protein: 25g
Total fat: 21g
Saturates: 12g
Carbs: 63g
Total sugars: 5g
Fibre: 6g
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The GH Kitchen Team are Good Housekeeping’s resident recipe developers and all-round food obsessives. GH Kitchen Director Sarah Akhurst is our resident hosting pro and loves nothing more than putting on a foodie feast for friends. Our GH Kitchen Manager Linzi Pucino is our very own Italian food expert (originally hailing from the North East of Scotland!) and can be found working her way through midweek recipes that cover all bases, from haggis to ragu! Our Kitchen Editor Nadine Brown loves digging into the stories behind her favourite foods and enjoys applying her eclectic tastes to more modern, flavour-forward recipes - just don't give her too much chilli! Our Junior Food Content Produce Frankie Prichard combines a love of beautiful presentation and flavour-led, seasonal cooking in her recipe development, along with a passion for bringing people together through food. With a wealth of professional kitchen experience between them, they’re dedicated to ensuring every Good Housekeeping recipe is the best it can be, so you can trust they’ll work every single time
