This is from the New York Times email that I just got today. I'm
always on the lookout for new mac & cheese recipes. This one
intrigued me because you assemble with uncooked pasta then cover and
bake. I've never heard of doing mac & cheese that way before. I do
undercook my pasta before assembly and baking just to avoid overcooked
pasta, but never have done uncooked.

NY Times Mac and Cheese
" 2 tablespoons butter
" 1 cup cottage cheese (not lowfat)
" 2 cups milk (not skim)
" 1 teaspoon dry mustard
" Pinch cayenne
" Pinch freshly grated nutmeg
" ½ teaspoon salt
" ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
" 1 pound sharp or extra-sharp cheddar cheese, grated
" ½ pound elbow pasta, uncooked.
Preparation
1. Heat oven to 375 degrees and position an oven rack in upper
third of oven. Use 1 tablespoon butter to butter a 9-inch round or
square baking pan.
2. In a blender, purée cottage cheese, milk, mustard, cayenne,
nutmeg and salt and pepper together. Reserve ¼ cup grated cheese for
topping. In a large bowl, combine remaining grated cheese, milk
mixture and uncooked pasta. Pour into prepared pan, cover tightly with
foil and bake 30 minutes.
3. Uncover pan, stir gently, sprinkle with reserved cheese and
dot with remaining tablespoon butter. Bake, uncovered, 30 minutes
more, until browned. Let cool at least 15 minutes before serving.

Janet US

On 2017-11-04, U.S Janet B > wrote:

> This is from the New York Times email that I just got today. I'm
> always on the lookout for new mac & cheese recipes. This one
> intrigued me because you assemble with uncooked pasta then cover and
> bake. I've never heard of doing mac & cheese that way before. I do
> undercook my pasta before assembly and baking just to avoid overcooked
> pasta, but never have done uncooked.

Well, the cottage cheese is a low-cost substitute fer ricotta. Has
been since at least the 1962 publication of Calories Don't Count which
subbed cottage cheese fer ricotta in a lasagne recipe. Works great!

I guess the tinfoil cover over uncooked pasta is to "steam" the pasta
into submission, then un-cover and bake, normally. I'll jes do a
Mornay sauce and pour it over cooked pasta. I may use some of the
spices listed. Maybe even some cottage cheese. Looks tasty.

nb

On Sat, 04 Nov 2017 09:56:44 -0600, U.S. Janet B. >

> This is from the New York Times email that I just got today. I'm
> always on the lookout for new mac & cheese recipes. This one
> intrigued me because you assemble with uncooked pasta then cover and
> bake. I've never heard of doing mac & cheese that way before. I do
> undercook my pasta before assembly and baking just to avoid overcooked
> pasta, but never have done uncooked.

I've seen lasagnas done this way. (I think the first was on an old
Emerel show.) So it's not entirely surprising that the same technique
could be used for Mac&Cheese.

Disclaimer: I've never actually tried any of these recipes as I don't
really believe they'll work.

--
Bob
St Francis would have done better to preach to the cats

On 11/4/2017 3:34 PM, Opinicus wrote:
> On Sat, 04 Nov 2017 09:56:44 -0600, U.S. Janet B. >
>
>> This is from the New York Times email that I just got today. I'm
>> always on the lookout for new mac & cheese recipes. This one
>> intrigued me because you assemble with uncooked pasta then cover and
>> bake. I've never heard of doing mac & cheese that way before. I do
>> undercook my pasta before assembly and baking just to avoid overcooked
>> pasta, but never have done uncooked.
>
> I've seen lasagnas done this way. (I think the first was on an old
> Emerel show.) So it's not entirely surprising that the same technique
> could be used for Mac&Cheese.
>
> Disclaimer: I've never actually tried any of these recipes as I don't
> really believe they'll work.
>
Well, I know they make pre-cooked dried lasagna noodles but I can't say
I've ever seen the same in macaroni. I can't see that it would save
much time. Janet already said she cooks the pasta a bit before
assembling. I cook the pasta while I'm assembling the other igredients,
too.

It might be an interesting experiment. Not one I care to try. I really
don't want to wind up with crunchy macaroni.

Jill

On 2017-11-04 5:15 PM, jmcquown wrote:
> On 11/4/2017 3:34 PM, Opinicus wrote:
>> On Sat, 04 Nov 2017 09:56:44 -0600, U.S. Janet B. >
>>
>>> This is from the New York Times email that I just gotÂ* today.Â* I'm
>>> always on the lookout for new mac & cheese recipes.Â* This one
>>> intrigued me because you assemble with uncooked pasta then cover and
>>> bake.Â* I've never heard of doing mac & cheese that way before.Â* I do
>>> undercook my pasta before assembly and baking just to avoid overcooked
>>> pasta, but never have done uncooked.
>>
>> I've seen lasagnas done this way. (I think the first was on an old
>> Emerel show.) So it's not entirely surprising that the same technique
>> could be used for Mac&Cheese.
>>
>> Disclaimer: I've never actually tried any of these recipes as I don't
>> really believe they'll work.
>>
> Well, I know they make pre-cooked dried lasagna noodles but I can't say
> I've ever seen the same in macaroni.Â* I can't see that it would save
> much time.Â* Janet already said she cooks the pasta a bit before
> assembling.Â* I cook the pasta while I'm assembling the other igredients,
> too.
>

Do they actually pre-cook them? I have used raw regular lasagna, made
the sauce a little thinner and cooked a couple minutes longer, and it
was great. I Googled no cook lasagna pasta and the first hit was a
recipe where you just use regular pasta and skip the boiling. Then
there was an Epicurious site that said that no-cook lasagne is actually
better than the type you boil and said that the pasta is thinner.




> It might be an interesting experiment.Â* Not one I care to try.Â* I really
> don't want to wind up with crunchy macaroni.

I don't see cooking the macaroni as much of a hassle as cooking lasagna.
It doesn't clump together and it is not guaranteed to splatter hot
water on you like lasagna is.

On 11/4/2017 6:02 PM, Dave Smith wrote:
> On 2017-11-04 5:15 PM, jmcquown wrote:
>> On 11/4/2017 3:34 PM, Opinicus wrote:
>>> On Sat, 04 Nov 2017 09:56:44 -0600, U.S. Janet B. >
>>>
>>>> This is from the New York Times email that I just gotÂ* today.Â* I'm
>>>> always on the lookout for new mac & cheese recipes.Â* This one
>>>> intrigued me because you assemble with uncooked pasta then cover and
>>>> bake.Â* I've never heard of doing mac & cheese that way before.Â* I do
>>>> undercook my pasta before assembly and baking just to avoid overcooked
>>>> pasta, but never have done uncooked.
>>>
>>> I've seen lasagnas done this way. (I think the first was on an old
>>> Emerel show.) So it's not entirely surprising that the same technique
>>> could be used for Mac&Cheese.
>>>
>>> Disclaimer: I've never actually tried any of these recipes as I don't
>>> really believe they'll work.
>>>
>> Well, I know they make pre-cooked dried lasagna noodles but I can't
>> say I've ever seen the same in macaroni.Â* I can't see that it would
>> save much time.Â* Janet already said she cooks the pasta a bit before
>> assembling.Â* I cook the pasta while I'm assembling the other
>> igredients, too.
>>
>
> Do they actually pre-cook them? I have used raw regular lasagna, made
> the sauce a little thinner and cooked a couple minutes longer, and it
> was great. I Googled no cook lasagna pasta and the first hit was a
> recipe where you just use regular pasta and skip the boiling.Â* Then
> there was an Epicurious site that said that no-cook lasagne is actually
> better than the type you boil and said that the pasta is thinner.
>
I only know about what I've read here about the no bake lasagna noodles.
I've never bought the product. It was a comparison off the top of my
head. All I meant was I wouldn't try it with uncooked macaroni.

Jill

jmcquown wrote in rec.food.cooking:

> On 11/4/2017 6:02 PM, Dave Smith wrote:
> > On 2017-11-04 5:15 PM, jmcquown wrote:
> > > On 11/4/2017 3:34 PM, Opinicus wrote:
> > > > On Sat, 04 Nov 2017 09:56:44 -0600, U.S. Janet B.
> > > > >
> > > >
> > > > > This is from the New York Times email that I just gotÂ*
> > > > > today.Â* I'm always on the lookout for new mac & cheese
> > > > > recipes.Â* This one intrigued me because you assemble with
> > > > > uncooked pasta then cover and bake.Â* I've never heard of
> > > > > doing mac & cheese that way before.Â* I do undercook my pasta
> > > > > before assembly and baking just to avoid overcooked pasta,
> > > > > but never have done uncooked.
> > > >
> > > > I've seen lasagnas done this way. (I think the first was on an
> > > > old Emerel show.) So it's not entirely surprising that the same
> > > > technique could be used for Mac&Cheese.
> > > >
> > > > Disclaimer: I've never actually tried any of these recipes as I
> > > > don't really believe they'll work.
> > > >
> > > Well, I know they make pre-cooked dried lasagna noodles but I
> > > can't say I've ever seen the same in macaroni.Â* I can't see
> > > that it would save much time.Â* Janet already said she cooks the
> > > pasta a bit before assembling.Â* I cook the pasta while I'm
> > > assembling the other igredients, too.
> > >
> >
> > Do they actually pre-cook them? I have used raw regular lasagna,
> > made the sauce a little thinner and cooked a couple minutes
> > longer, and it was great. I Googled no cook lasagna pasta and the
> > first hit was a recipe where you just use regular pasta and skip
> > the boiling.Â* Then there was an Epicurious site that said that
> > no-cook lasagne is actually better than the type you boil and said
> > that the pasta is thinner.
> >
> I only know about what I've read here about the no bake lasagna
> noodles. I've never bought the product. It was a comparison off
> the top of my head. All I meant was I wouldn't try it with uncooked
> macaroni.
>
> Jill

Thats ok Jill.

I got some of that 'instant pasta' on a sale and didnt realize it until
I looked at it closer after cooking some.

It was a gummy useless mass of starch when first cooked as I hadn't
noted it's cooking difference. I then tried the stuff with it's own
directions and it was an extremely palid palate without any taste at
all. One doesnt expect explosions of flavor with mere unsauced pasta.
This one was more like 'under-plosion' of flavor of cooked pasta with a
no way to aviod mushyness.

--

On Sat, 4 Nov 2017 18:21:29 -0400, jmcquown >
wrote:

>On 11/4/2017 6:02 PM, Dave Smith wrote:
>> On 2017-11-04 5:15 PM, jmcquown wrote:
>>> On 11/4/2017 3:34 PM, Opinicus wrote:
>>>> On Sat, 04 Nov 2017 09:56:44 -0600, U.S. Janet B. >
>>>>
>>>>> This is from the New York Times email that I just got* today.* I'm
>>>>> always on the lookout for new mac & cheese recipes.* This one
>>>>> intrigued me because you assemble with uncooked pasta then cover and
>>>>> bake.* I've never heard of doing mac & cheese that way before.* I do
>>>>> undercook my pasta before assembly and baking just to avoid overcooked
>>>>> pasta, but never have done uncooked.
>>>>
>>>> I've seen lasagnas done this way. (I think the first was on an old
>>>> Emerel show.) So it's not entirely surprising that the same technique
>>>> could be used for Mac&Cheese.
>>>>
>>>> Disclaimer: I've never actually tried any of these recipes as I don't
>>>> really believe they'll work.
>>>>
>>> Well, I know they make pre-cooked dried lasagna noodles but I can't
>>> say I've ever seen the same in macaroni.* I can't see that it would
>>> save much time.* Janet already said she cooks the pasta a bit before
>>> assembling.* I cook the pasta while I'm assembling the other
>>> igredients, too.
>>>
>>
>> Do they actually pre-cook them? I have used raw regular lasagna, made
>> the sauce a little thinner and cooked a couple minutes longer, and it
>> was great. I Googled no cook lasagna pasta and the first hit was a
>> recipe where you just use regular pasta and skip the boiling.* Then
>> there was an Epicurious site that said that no-cook lasagne is actually
>> better than the type you boil and said that the pasta is thinner.
>>
>I only know about what I've read here about the no bake lasagna noodles.
> I've never bought the product. It was a comparison off the top of my
>head. All I meant was I wouldn't try it with uncooked macaroni.
>
>Jill

A few years ago I tried those precooked lasagna noodles... glad I only
made a small amount, the noodles came out over cooked. I see no
benefit to any shortcut cooking products.