A quick and easy stovetop mac and cheese recipe, using blue brie (cambozola), which makes a creamy, deliciously flavorful sauce. This is a fantastic vegetarian recipe, just 20 minutes and 6 ingredients, and such a treat for fancy cheese lovers! It can also be made with a mix of normal brie + any blue cheese.
Blue brie! Have you tried it?
It also goes by the name cambozola. There are probably other variations too. Cambozola is the one I buy because, well, it’s £1.94. Thank you, Waitrose Essentials. Don’t mind if I do.
Blue brie is obviously a MUST for an efficient cheeseboard (you’ve got your something soft and your something blue right there in one!).
But it also melts like a dream, and makes this simple, one-pan mac and cheese a little bit fancy.
The taste is mellow and creamy, with just a little bite of blue. Pecorino or parmesean ramp up the flavor a little, but I leave it fairly mild.
The cheese amounts given in the recipe are a starting point, but it’s really is up to you and how much richness you’re in the mood for.
If you live in a cambozola wasteland, you could try using plain brie and then throw in a little bit of gorgonzola for a similar effect.
The method is crazy simple- I use the same method as I did in my one-pot avocado green goddess mac and cheese, cooking the macaroni in milk to thicken it and form the base of the sauce before adding the cheese and some butter.
Truthfully, I rarely make mac and cheese the old fashioned way (cooking the cheese sauce and pasta separately) anymore.
It doesn’t turn out exactly the same. While a bechamel based sauce has it’s thick, stodgy charms, the one pot technique yields something a little lighter, stickier, and messier. Both have something to offer… but often, easy wins out!
Adding spinach is a smart move to ease the guilt, but I don’t just do it for the health benefits.
It also tastes great with the cheese sauce and creates a more interesting texture so that this feels like more of a complete meal. You could also try some lightly sauteed kale, but that would be less lazy.
I used these cute mini shells from the Jamie range (though according to the reviews, I missed the memo where these shells were intended for kids!) It’s important to note that different shapes and thickness of pasta will alter the amount of milk you need, so just keep a close eye on things.
Love Cambozola Recipes? Here are some more tempting ideas I’ve seen around the web:
- Caramelized Onion, Brie & Cambozola Pizza from Creative Culinary
- Broccoli & Cambozola Tart from Red Online
Blue Brie Macaroni & Cheese
Ingredients
- 200 g (2 cups) dry macaroni , or other small pasta shape
- 590 ml (2.5 cupsEdit Ingredients) milk
- 30 g (2 Tbsp) butter
- 170 g (6 oz) blue brie (cambozola), or a mix of brie and blue cheese, roughly chopped
- 2 handfuls grated parmesan, see notes
- 2 handfuls fresh baby spinach
Instructions
- Pour the macaroni and milk into a saucepan. Heat, stirring very frequently, until the milk begins to bubble. Turn the heat down and simmer for 10 minutes. Continue to stir at regular intervals. You may need to add more milk depending on how thick your macaroni is. If your macaroni isn’t cooked by the time your milk has cooked down, you’ll need to add more and turn the heat back up to bring it back to a boil.
- Once the macaroni is cooked al dente, stir in the butter and cheese until melted. Assess the texture and add more milk if it’s too thick and sticky.
- Finally, add the spinach and stir in until just wilted.
- That was easy wasn’t it? Serve!
this looks so good! i just added to it my list of things to make for the next few weeks! thanks for sharing!
This post had me at blue brie, yummy!
This post had me at blue brie, yummy!
Hi, I’m very concerned that you claim this recipe is vegetarian and then include non-vegetarian cheeses. Both parmasan and gorgonzola cant be vegetarian as they contain rennet, which usually comes from calf’s stomachs. Percorino also predominanly isnt vegetarian as well.
Ah good point. So the cambozola I use is vegetarian (Waitrose Essentials), and Galbani brand gorgonzola is suitable for vegetarians. You’re right re: parmesan and I actually use a vegetarian hard cheese alternative myself (they’re everywhere in the UK, there’s Twineham, Divo, Sainsbury’s and Ocado own brands, etc) and I assume other vegetarians are making the same swap but say parmesan to indicate the sort of cheese we’re going for. I usually remember to mention this in my posts but I seem to have forgot this time. I’m going to edit it with some additional info. Thank you for flagging!
I made this last night as I had some brie and blue cheese kicking around after a dinner party. I used some fresh and frozen spinach as well as larger pasta shapes instead of macaroni. I also had to supplement some of the milk with cream and water to provide enough liquid to cook the pasta in.
It was so quick and easy and turned out perfectly despite my multiple changes to the recipe! Would definitely make this again.
Thanks sooo much for the feedback! Gotta love having leftover cheese to play with! So happy it turned out well. Yes the pasta shape you use will definitely influence how much milk is required to cook it in so it’s something to keep an eye on and adjust each time.
I made this last night as I had some brie and blue cheese kicking around after a dinner party. I used some fresh and frozen spinach as well as larger pasta shapes instead of macaroni. I also had to supplement some of the milk with cream and water to provide enough liquid to cook the pasta in.
It was so quick and easy and turned out perfectly despite my multiple changes to the recipe! Would definitely make this again.
Made this tonight. Was rich and delicious!
Had lots of Cambozola leftover, with a small addition of Parmesan and Gryere that I had in fridge. Definitely blue cheese forward..but that’s what I like! Added some salt, black pepper, cayenne, and garlic powder. The spinach adds such a lovely colour. Thanks for sharing. Easy and a fabulous Mac n cheese!!