[charla]

Creamy Sauce - Two Ways can be make into alfredo sauce or cheddar sauce. Either way it is yummy. I'm supposing that one could also make it into a tomato cream sauce, too, although I haven't tried that yet.

I will apologize here and now for not using real cream, but please, please, try it. It's so very creamy and yummy, you won't miss it a bit.


Creamy Sauce - Two Ways

3 TBSP butter
3 TBSP flour
2 cups 2% milk
4 oz neufchatel cheese (1/3 less fat cream cheese)
Salt
Granulated garlic

Melt butter on medium heat in a saucepan. Whisk in flour until smooth. Pour in milk and continue whisking. Season with salt and garlic. Add in neufchatel cheese and chop up with your whisk and keep whisking. It will look like it's totally ruined and clumpy, but it will smooth out. Just keep it on medium heat and whisk very often until it starts to thicken.

At this point you have a decision. Do you want it alfredo or cheese sauce for macaroni?

If you want it alfredo, add 5 oz shredded parmesan cheese and whisk until smooth. Pour over your favorite pasta. Add whatever toppings you like: chicken, sausage, broccoli, spinach, tomatoes. The sky's the limit.

If you want cheese sauce, shred up a bunch of cheddar cheese (can substitute other cheeses or a mixture if you wish, best to have it shredded before you start the sauce) and drop a handful in at a time and whisk until smooth. Add another handful, whisk until smooth until the cheese sauce is as cheesy as you want it. Stir into macaroni pasta and enjoy the gooey creaminess.

If at any point your sauce becomes too thick add more milk. If it's too runny, add more cheese.

I hope you like it.

ETA: The recipe makes enough sauce for a box of pasta - I don't think they are a pound now. What are they? 14 oz? Anyway that gives you an idea of how much it makes.