Blue brie! Have you tried it?
Blue brie is usually cambozola, though other general “blue brie” cheeses are around. It is soft, with a dreamy brie-like softness with a kick of blue flavor (still a lot less punchy flavor than a normal blue cheese, so it doesn’t overwhelm). It melts like a dream, so the ideal candidate for an elevated mac and cheese.
While the taste of this mac and cheese is fairly mellow and creamy, you can ramp it up as much as you like with a parmesan style cheese.
Ingredient & Recipe Tips
- This is a one pot macaroni and cheese recipe – the macaroni is cooked in the milk, which thickens the milk with starch leaving us with a base similar to a bechamel. We can then just add the cheese right into the pan. With this method, you need to keep an eye on the pan as the macaroni cooks. If it gets too dry, you may end up needing to add more milk as you go. A lot will depend on the pasta you use. Some pastas are thicker than others and will need more milk to cook through.
- If you can’t find any cambozola, you could certainly try making this with normal brie and a hit of gorgonzola / stilton / any other blue cheese. It wouldn’t be exactly the same but probably still good!
- I like to add spinach to this dish, but that is optional.
More Easy Mac & Cheese Ideas
Cambozola (Blue Brie) Mac & Cheese
A quick and easy stovetop mac and cheese recipe, using cambozola (also known as blue brie), which makes a creamy, deliciously flavorful sauce. This recipe takes just 20 minutes, one pot and 6 ingredients – a winner for busy weeknights!
Ingredients
- 200 g (2 cups) dry macaroni, or other small pasta shape
- 590 ml (2.5 cups) milk
- 30 g (2 Tbsp) butter
- 170 g (6 oz) cambozola cheese, roughly chopped
- 75 g (¾ cup) grated parmesan, see notes
- 50 g (1.5 cups) 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!
Notes
I personally use a vegetarian parmesan style cheese rather than true parmesan which is made with calf rennet (it has to be in order to be called parmesan within the EU).
Calories: 554kcal, Carbohydrates: 47g, Protein: 26g, Fat: 29g, Saturated Fat: 17g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g, Monounsaturated Fat: 7g, Trans Fat: 0.2g, Cholesterol: 93mg, Sodium: 714mg, Potassium: 510mg, Fiber: 2g, Sugar: 9g, Vitamin A: 2020IU, Vitamin C: 4mg, Calcium: 456mg, Iron: 1mg
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!Â
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!!Â