I came home from a long day at work to the looming question – What’s for dinner? Well, Mr. Sodium, in the fridge is arugula, pepper jack cheese, cream, white wine and chicken stock; in the pantry are egg noodles and tomato sauce. Kitchen sink mac and cheese with no added salt is born! The key is building a nice, flavorful base in the sauce.

1 pound egg noodles

2 T unsalted butter

1/8 t ground black pepper

1 T Wondra flour (regular flour will work, but Wondra is easiest to make roux for sauce, as it doesn’t lump)

1 t smoked paprika

1/2 t sweet paprika

1/4 t garlic powder

1 1/2 t dry mustard

1 t sugar

1/2 C white wine

1 C chicken stock (I used Kitchen Basics, the no salt variety)

1/2 C no added salt tomato sauce (I used Pomi)

1 C heavy cream

4 oz grated pepper jack cheese

3 C chopped arugula

1/2 C seasoned no salt bread crumbs

1. Preheat oven to 400. Start a large pot of water to boil, add egg noodles and cook until al dente.

2. Melt butter over medium heat in a large sauce pan. Add flour, pepper, smoked paprika, sweet paprika, garlic powder, dry mustard and sugar. Stir vigorously until thoroughly mixed and fragrant.

3. Add white wine, stir until mixed, then add chicken stock and tomato sauce, stirring until boiling. Reduce to low, add cream and stir.

4. Combine noodles, cheese and arugula in a baking dish (or if you’re lazy like me, just combine it all in the same large pot where you cooked the noodles), top with sauce then bread crumbs.

5. Bake uncovered until bread crumbs are golden and crisp.

Yield: 8 servings

Sodium count: 133 mg per serving