Kraft Dinner... or not?

Ah, the famous KD (Kraft Dinner for the non North Americans)! Some people could not live without it! I have to admit I still have a few boxes in my pantry from Canada that we use once in a while. You aren't American or Canadian if you have never eaten this stuff haha. The KD box comes, just like the Hamburger Helper, with the pasta and the sauce mix. You add a bit of milk and butter and done. It's that simple!

I had some leftover chicken breast from the roasted chicken and brocoli that was starting to get old. What better way to use them than with mac&cheese? Usually I do some garlic mayo and make some chicken wraps but the brocoli just didn't work well in that mix. So off to the mac&cheese I went. I figured that it would be much like the hamburger helper. Milk and cheese :) After a bit of googleing, turns out a bechamel mixed with cheese is the base for the sauce. Off to cooking I went!

Chicken and Brocoli Mac & Cheese

Ingredients:

500grs macaroni
1 brocoli
1 cup cooked chopped chicken
2 cups of milk
1/2 cup of cream
2 tbsps of flour
2 tbsps of butter
1 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp of garlic salt
1 cup of cheddar
1/3 cup of pecorino romano
2 tbsps of breadcrumbs
salt and pepper
water

Chop the chicken if not already done and cut the brocoli into florets.

In a large pot, bring lots of water and salt to boil. When boiling, cook the pasta until al dente. Don't overcook it as it will continue to cook in the oven. If you want, you can rinse the pasta with cold water to prevent it from cooking and sticking.

At the same time as the pasta is cooking, in another pot, steam the brocoli until it turns a bright green color. Some people add it to the cooking pasta but I find it removes a lot of the flavor from the brocoli compared to steaming it.

In a saucepan, melt the butter and add the flour. Mix to form the roux. Add the hot milk (heated in the microwave) and mix well to form the bechamel. Add the nutmeg.

When the milk sauce is done, add the cheese.

Mix well until all the cheese has melted. Add the salt, pepper and garlic salt.

Add the chicken and brocoli to the pasta.

Mix and add the sauce.

Mix well to coat the pasta. Transfer into your oven dish. Add a bit of grated pecorino romano and breadcrumbs.

Broil in the oven until a nice golden crust has formed.

Another delicious homemade meal that David approved! He even said it was better than KD :)!