There’s a good chance that you have a leftover cheese ball from the holidays. Well, we’re here to show you how to turn it into some happy mac & cheese!
In this post https://orzare.com/ , we’ll share with you our three tips for turning leftover holiday cheese into gooey mac and cheese. You’ll also find a list of ingredients that will make preparing this dish even easier. And finally, there’s a step-by-step recipe at the end to help guide your preparation process through its final stages.
Tip 1: Turn Your Cheese Ball into Shredded Cheese
Before beginning the mac & cheese process, you’ll want to turn your leftover cheese ball into shredded cheese. This will be much easier than shredding it by hand, and will make the rest of the process even smoother.
There are several ways that you can turn your cheese ball into shredded cheese; we’ll share our two favorite methods!
Method 1:
Use a food processor to shred your cheese into super fine pieces. This method is fast, easy, and efficient. And it’s perfect for turning yoru large block of cheddar or other large wheel of holiday cheese into a bowl full of super fine slices of the same. You can use this method to create cheese for macaroni and cheese, quesadillas, pizza, etc.
Method 2:
Use a vegetable peeler or a sharp knife to shred your cheese and turn it into long, thin strings. This is the perfect method if you want to create traditional macaroni & cheese with the look of shredded cheese with the consistency of stringy mozzarella. This method works great if you’re planning to use your cheese as a topping on top of a pizza or bread.
1. Place the block of cheese on a cutting board.
2. Using a sharp knife, cut the cheese into strips; do not cut all the way through the block (give it some character!)
3. Use a spiralizer to create long strings of cheese that look like noodles! We love this spiralizer for making pasta, but you can use any pasta maker to get similar results. Simply set the spiralizer down on top of your board and pull it down towards you for 2-3 seconds; repeat this until you reach your desired size and thickness of stringy cheese ‘noodles’.
4. Grab your cheese and pull it apart into long strings. You may want to use a clean finger or two to help separate the cheese into thin strands.
5. Place the stringy cheese on a chopping board, add some seasoning (if desired), and cut it into smaller pieces with a knife that you can use for cooking with (cheese grater, knife, etc).
Tip 2: Turn Your Cheese Ball into Shredded Mozzarella Cheese
Our second tip is to get your hands on some shredded mozzarella cheese! It’s an ingredient that is used in quite a few recipes; in fact, it’s used by many popular food blogs when making mac and cheese.
The reason why it’s so popular is because it has a stringy and gooey consistency, yet still has the same soft, cheese flavor that most people enjoy.
We’ve found that the best place to get your hands on some shredded mozzarella cheese is at local grocery stores, such as Kroger or Publix (if you’re in one of those states). They usually have a section dedicated to fresh mozzarella cheese and they’ll usually have shredded varieties available. If not, they’ll have fresh balls of mozzarella cheese, which will work just fine if you allow them to thaw at room temperature for about 30 minutes before adding them into your recipe.
If your grocery store doesn’t have fresh mozzarella, you can also find shredded mozzarella cheese in the dairy department. It’s usually one of the first ingredients you see when you enter the dairy section, located on a shelf just above the milk and juices.
Tip 3: Add Your Toppings & Bake At 350°F For 25-30 Minutes
Here comes the fun part: adding all of your toppings! This part is really up to you; do you want to create one large dish with everything tossed in together, or do you want to break it into two or three different dishes? The choice is completely up to you.
We’ll share a few ideas with you, but feel free to add your own personal flair to the dish.
1. Add Tofu, Browned Pork Sausage, Tempeh or Veggie Ground Round
The first step of this process is to add tofu, browned pork sausage (make sure it’s vegan!) or tempeh (add a good amount!) or veggie ground round into the bottom of your baking dish. Create a solid base for your mac & cheese by using 1-2 pounds of these ingredients and pressing down firmly with a spatula or your hands. You don’t want to include too much because you can always add more later if you need to!
2. Add More Seasoning & Shredded Cheese
If your cheese ball recipe calls for adding more ingredients, such as spices or herbs, you can add them to the dish at this point. Just be sure to mix them with ground beef and shredded cheese. You don’t want any of the ingredients to be 100% visible because that would make your dish look inconsistent; instead, we recommend just mixing them in with everything else so that it blends together seamlessly.
