Hello beautiful Macaroni and Cheese.
I love you.
Please be mine.
Would you like to dance?
Let’s be friends.
These are all ways I like to greet this macaroni and cheese. Its real special.
This macaroni and cheese mixes a bunch of cut up cauliflower with pepper jack jalapeno cheese to add some spice. Then it’s all melted over pasta shells. Oh and there’s bread crumbs on top to add a bit of crunch.
Do you love pepper jack jalapeno cheese as much as I do? I love the kick of it. When I saw it the grocery store I threw it in my buggy right away. I knew I had to make something with it (besides eating it by the slice because I did alot of that too). Next time you’re in the supermarket try to look for this!
The cauliflower comes straight from the garden. In the winter. Seriously. We still have vegetables growing under the green house. It makes my gardening heart pretty happy to go up to the roof in my winter coat and cut off a cauliflower head (and then cover it in cheese).
Next time your’e craving macaroni and cheese, give this a try!
Pin for later:
Ingredients
- 2 cups pasta shells
- 3 cups cauliflower cut up into pieces
- 1/4 cup butter
- 2 tablespoons flour
- 1 teaspoon dry mustard powder
- 1 teaspoon pepper
- 1 1/2 cups milk
- 10 ounces pepper jack jalapeno cheese
- 1/4 cup bread crumbs
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
- Boil water and cook pasta shells as instructed on box. When there are 3 minutes left, add your cauliflower to the boiling pot. Drain and set aside.
- In a large saucepan melt your butter over medium heat. Slowly add flour, dry mustard and pepper until smooth.
- Add your milk and cheese slowly and keep stirring until it's smooth and melted. Take off burner.
- Add your macaroni and cauliflower to cheese mixture saucepan and stir until all shells are coated.
- Transfer your mixture to a baking dish and sprinkle bread crumbs on top.
- Cover and bake for 25-30 minutes or until cheese is bubbly.
- Enjoy!
Monica says
Now I really feel like I’ve been missing out by never having cauliflower with mac & cheese before. This must be corrected! And can I say..that is one beautiful cauliflower!
Nammi says
wow, that cauliflower looks so beautiful !!. Mac and cheese with cauliflower looks and sounds delicious!
Joanne says
I am all for stuffing oodles of veggies in my mac and cheese! And I love that with this spicy cheese, the flavor is strong enough that you don’t have to add a TON of cheese. WIN.
Taylor @ FoodFaithFitness says
I am SO like you! I definitely get recipe backed up and then make something that I want to post, like, yesterday! I am loving that you used cauli in this mac! This looks amazing Pamela!
Kelly says
I love that you can still grow all these beautiful veggies in the winter – the cauliflower is a gorgeous addition to this perfect mac & cheese! Love that you used pepper jack cheese in here – sounds heavenly!
Elizabeth @ SugarHero.com says
Hah, basically the story of my blogging life is having posts prepped, then shelving them for a month or two while other things get pushed to the front. #foodbloggerproblems, am I right? So glad this recipe finally got its time to shine, though, because it sounds delicious! Anything with pepper jack cheese is a must-eat for me!
Ashley @ Wishes & Dishes says
I need this in my life ASAP!!!
Tandy | Lavender and Lime says
I am now craving mac n cheese!
Cindy @ Pick Fresh Foods says
Oh how I wish I had a green house. How lucky are you!! This dish looks amazingly creamy. I love pepper jack and using it in macaroni and cheese…brilliant!
Jamie | Jamie's Recipes says
Pepper jack is such a great touch to jazz up macaroni and cheese. Cauliflower and cheese go together as well as macaroni and cheese do. Yummy!
Anna (Hidden Ponies) says
Oooh yes, I have muffin problems. Sometimes I just don’t feel in the mood for writing about the recipes I’ve so carefully backlogged 🙂 This looks amazing – cauliflower is my favourite cooked veggie, so I could eat waaay too much of this!
Gretchen @ Two Healthy Kitchens says
My husband will LOVE this!! We are all about the spicy cheeses – and this is a fave of ours!
I’m shedding a tear for you. You are simply amazing to be posting these cheesy bites of deliciousness and not able to eat it. On the other hand, I really hope you are feeling much better! 🙂
I want to come see your greenhouse! I can’t get over this harvest you continue to bring in!
Ashley says
This mac and cheese looks heavenly! I loveeee me some pepper jack … and with the cauliflower… perfect!
Katie says
Have you tried the Almond Pepperjack “cheese” ? It isn’t real cheese, obviously, and I won’t lie and say it taste JUST LIKE CHEESE, but it is a pretty good imitation. I don’t know how well it melts, but it slices up great!
Mason Canyon says
These aren’t ingredients I would have thought to put together, but they look yummy. A good way to use cauliflower.
Daniela @ FoodrecipesHQ says
I’ve never tried macaroni and cheese… it must be strange to believe it but yeah… we just don’t have this pasta dish in Italy! I’ am so up for it now… your pictures are simply amazing.
Koko says
Hello beautiful, indeed! This totally looks DA BOMB (and I still say that……..I might be the only one though 😉 )
I love the added cauilflower…such a great, sneaky nutritional boost!!
yummychunklet says
Great way to spice up cauliflower!
Norma | Allspice and Nutmeg says
I love this. It’s a great way to lighten up Mac and cheese.
Catherine says
Dear Pamela,
This looks really good!
Blessings dear. Catherine
Dixya @ Food, Pleasure, and Health says
pepper jack is one of my favorite- this sounds sooo good.
Chris @ Shared Appetite says
yes. Yes. YES. This is exactly what I want for dinner tonight. I so love pepperjack cheese and adding cauliflower in totally makes it healthy, right 🙂 Seriously, this looks amazing!
Pamela says
I like to believe that adding cheese to any vegetable still makes it extremely healthy. 😉
Pam says
Creamy, decadent, delicious, and spicy – it looks fantastic!
Natalie @ Tastes Lovely says
So jealous you have a green house Pamela. That is great that you are still harvesting vegetables in the dead of winter. What fun! These jalapeno cauliflower mac and cheese sounds amazing. My husband loves pepper jack, so this would be perfect for him.
Helen @ Scrummy Lane says
Ooh, yummy yummy! It’s been a horrible dark, cold wintry day here in the UK and this would be perfect for dinner tonight! Love the idea of adding cauliflower to mac n cheese to make it healthier, and … what?! You got the cauliflower from your garden, in the winter?? I am sooo envious! Wonderful!
NewsAnchorToHomemaker says
I’ve never tried cauliflower in mac-n-cheese…this really does look like “da bomb”, no I don’t think kids still say that, but I do 😉 Great recipe!
Shundara@SavyNaturalista says
Cauliflower and mac and cheese is the best, I love all the flavor combinations going on in this dish 🙂
Christin@SpicySouthernKitchen says
Loving this recipe Pamela! Cauliflower and cheese were meant for each other!
Marta @ What should I eat for breakfast today says
Great writing. I fell in love with macaroni and cheese when I was living in San Francisco. It’s crazy how delicious and not popular in Europe it is. Great writing as well. Cheers, Marta
Ashley @ My Midwest Table says
This looks insanely delicious! Pepperjack cheese is one of my favorite cheeses. I used to hate on cauliflower but it is one that I absolutely adore now. It’s so versatile…and it pairs well with cheese! But that’s obvious. 🙂