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Thursday, January 5, 2012

Deluxe Mac n Cheese

I've been in the mood for all things cheesy lately. Since the holidays are now over, I've been waiting to finish the leftovers and get over the "fries night" so I can make something involving a melted cheddar cheese sauce. Along with the little cheddar I had left, I improvised a ton of stuff in the sauce to make it extra special. The hub loved it.
Ingredients:
1 lb cooked elbow pasta
handful of frozen broccoli florets
1 shallot, minced
1 pack bacon, sliced crosswise
1/2 jar roasted bell peppers, chopped coarsley
1 cup milk
1/2 cup heavy cream
2/3 cup shredded cheddar
1/4 cup shredded blue cheese
1/4 cup shredded swiss + some for garnish
parmesan for garnish
1 handful chopped celery leaves
1 handful chopped parsley
a drizzle of beer
1 tsp red pepper flakes
1 tsp thyme
2 egg yolks
fresh ground pepper/salt
1/2 cup reserved pasta water
Directions:
1. In a large pot, cook the pasta in salted water.
2. In a sauce pan, cook the bacon with some pepper and thyme and drain a bit. Add the shallots and broccoli and stir until tender.
3. Lower the heat and add the beer and milk and heat through. Add the cheeses, celery leaves, pepper flakes. The mixture should not be too thick, but nice and creamy. At this point, I wanted some color, so I added the roasted bells.. nice choice.
4. When the pasta is done, reserve 1/2 cup of the cooking water, drain and add back into the pot off heat.
5. Mix the heavy cream and egg yolks with the pasta until nicely coated. Then add the cheesy sauce and fresh parsely and stir until evenly coated.

Serve with shredded swiss and parmesan and be blown away!

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