EJ's version of Grown-up Mac & Cheese

Today after church, I decided to make Alistair some lunch, experimenting with a new recipe and attempting to clean out the fridge at the same time.  The result was a tasty Mac & Cheese-esque dish, with a deep flavour and a lot more healthy goodness than a box of Kraft!  I started with a Canadian Living recipe as the basis, but used what I had on hand, so I think I can technically call this my own creation.  :-)  



[notes: I'm posting the recipe with my changes, but I'll put the CL recipe in brackets.]



Grown-up Mac & Cheese
Ingredients
2 tbsp butter
1 onion, chopped
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp each dried thyme and pepper
2 tbsp all-purpose flour
2 cups milk
1-1/2 cups shredded marbled cheddar cheese [Gruyere]
1 Tbsp German-style spicy mustard [dijon]
4 cups small pasta, such as macaroni, penne, etc.-- I used Ditanlini because its is so cute.
2 cups broccoli florets, blanched*, well drained [chopped fresh spinach, squeezed dry]
2 cups cubed ham
1 cup sweet red peppers, roughly chopped [halved grape tomatoes]

Directions
In saucepan, melt butter over medium heat; fry onion, salt, thyme and pepper until onion is softened, 5 minutes.

Sprinkle with flour; cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Whisk in milk; cook, whisking, until thick enough to coat spoon, about 7 minutes. Stir in cheese and mustard; cook, stirring, until melted.

Meanwhile, in large pot of boiling salted water, cook pasta until tender but firm, about 8 minutes.   Drain and return to pot.

*To save time and a pot for cleaning, I used the boiling pasta water to blanch the broccoli (while the pasta was cooking).  I put the broccoli into a medium sieve, and dipped it into the boiling water for 2 minutes, or until the color was nice and bright. Then, I simply removed the sieve from the pot, and rinsed under cold water (to lock in flavour and colour) and placed the sieve on a bowl to drain while I worked on the sauce.

Add to pasta pot: sauce, broccoli, ham and peppers; toss to combine.

Enjoy!