I am very proud of this dish. A friend was coming over with her kids and the initial plan was to order pizza and a salad and have some wine while the kids enjoy playing outside. I decided not to order in since kids eat pizza all the time- but the question was- what can I cook that would be appropriate for the kids as well as the adults??? My daughter is always asking me to make macaroni and cheese- the one from the box- and I do make it for her, I buy the healthy kind but it is still processed and that really bothers me. I try to make mac n cheese from scratch but am trying to get her out of out of the habit and don’t end up making it very often. I thought this would be a good opportunity to make it for her since her friends were coming over. I wanted to make a one-pot meal and didnt’ want to worry about serving vegetables on the side. I decided to make the regular cheese sauce for the dish and used the elbow pasta to make it look like the authentic macaroni and cheese. I chopped up chicken sausage and sauteed it with garlic and the frozen spinach. I then added the cooked pasta and poured the sauce and baked it. I made a salad for us grown ups as well as some garlic bread. Initially the kids were not happy to see the baked dish with the green stuff in it- but once they tasted it- I didn’t hear a peep. I think when they heard chocolate cupcakes were coming up next, they finished the pasta really quick- but seriously- they liked it!
My friend and I enjoyed the pasta and the salad with a great bottle of a Malbec Rose. We finished the entire bottle- well almost- I saved a few sips for my husband.
Overall I was very happy with the dish- everyone is searching for recipes of one-pot meals that are kid friendly as well as good for the adults. I will definitely making this one again- who knows maybe I will change it around a bit to get another new recipe!!

Sia and her friends enjoying the pasta in the backyard….

read more …