Mar. 31 - Penne w/ Creamy Gruyere & Brie Sauce

So I spent over $10 in cheese on this dish - seriously...$10! (That's a lot to me compared to the $2 bag of shredded cheese I'm used to buying?!) I found this recipe on another blog (I'm going to give a shout out to healthy-ish) and modified it a little bit to suit our liking. I've been really excited to give this a shot for awhile now, and finally decided to make it.

First, the boy tasted it and then began pushing it around with his fork (telltale sign that he's not diggin the dish). I asked him what was wrong with it (in the midst of the screams coming from both children), and he just gave me a half-smile and said, "well, I don't like green beans. And I don't really care for the cheeses." Gah, okay - I'm *trying* here to incorporate some more vegetables in all of our diets and I'm hitting a brick wall with him.

Then I ask Linds what she thinks...and all I get is nonsense-jabbering, screaming (she dropped a noodle on her pants), and the subsequent stripping off of her pants because she didn't want the sauce remnants on them. Double gah. I guess the Auntie Anne's pretzel sticks at 4:30 p.m. weren't such a good idea?

Alas, I enjoyed it, but that doesn't do much for the entire box full of penne's worth of a dish. I'm going to be gone the next two days (traveling home to see the 'rents and taking the kiddos to Hersheypark with Uncle Zach and his girlfriend Rachel), and I didn't want it to spoil in the refrigerator, so I bagged it and tossed it in the freezer - a quick dinner the next time the boy travels and it's just Linds and me.

The original recipe is from Cooking Light, so it's supposed to be a healthy dish despite all the cheese. Hopefully you'll enjoy it more than the rest of my family did?!

Penne w/ a Creamy Gruyere & Brie Sauce
Ingredients
1 box penne (we used Ronzoni Smart Taste)
3 tbsp flour
2 cups skim milk
1 tbsp unsalted butter
1 1/4 cups shredded Gruyere cheese (about 1/2 lb.)
3 ounces soft Brie, rind removed
Frozen green beans

Directions

1. Boil a large pot of water.
2. Add penne and green beans; cook until penne is al dente. Drain.
3. Meanwhile, add flour and ½ cup milk to a medium saucepan over medium heat. Whisk until smooth.
4. Gradually add remaining 1 ½ cups of milk to the saucepan, whisking constantly.
5. Bring to a boil. Cook for 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Stir in butter.
6. Remove from heat and let sit about 3 - 5 minutes.
7. Add cheeses and stir until smooth.
8. In a large bowl, combine penne and green beans with cheese sauce. Serve immediately.