Corn Pasta Vegetable Mac & Cheese

This is not a recipe I'd normally make, but there were extenuating circumstances. I thought of this recipe a couple years ago but decided to file it away until I had an appropriate 'disappointing cheese experience.' Living in The Dairy State of Wisconsin, I figured eventually that sort of thing would happen. While at a meat market north of here a couple weeks ago, I was in a hungry-buying mood. It had been such a long time since I had good provolone or Swiss cheese, and found packages of both. A good cheese to me is one that tends to be dry, hard and nutty, especially in the case of Swiss. These both missed the mark on many levels. Since their texture seemed to lend itself to melting, I decided to create a recipe to highlight those qualities.

1-1½c dry pasta, cooked half-way

~ ~ drain and rinse in cold water

1c milk

1-2T flour

1t Rosemary Seasoning (or black pepper & salt)

1c each soft, Swiss and provolone cheese

1lg. Onion – chopped

2-3 stalks celery – chopped

1-2 finely chopped carrots

Make a white sauce using milk, flour and seasonings. When it begins to thicken, add cheese then stir to melt. In a casserole dish combine pasta, cheese sauce and vegetables. Bake in a 350° oven about 60 minute. The cheese sauce at the bottom will crust nicely. Serve with a salad dressed with a Balsamic-oil dressing. . .Lin