A Different take on Mac & Cheese
A pasta and cheese dish from scratch is essential to everyone’s dinner lineup. If you have another recipe, I would ask you to try this one and compare the two. While macaroni is the typical pasta choice, I like experimenting with other shapes, such as Conchiglie (seashell pasta). Macaroni and penne tend to get overused, in my opinion. Using different types of pasta makes this dish more interesting, and with so many options out there, why not?
This recipe uses a Swiss fondue technique to get a multi-layered flavored sauce. It’s mixed with the pasta of your choice, baked in the oven, and topped with bread crumbs. It is delicious with just about any protein you wish to serve. You will see that this version is miles above the blue box variety of traditional American Mac n’ Cheese.
Experiment
Use this recipe to explore different ways of making your favorite versions. For example, you can substitute one or more cheeses, add bacon and top with fresh chives upon taking it out of the oven, or add roasted diced Sandia Hatch chilies and Oaxaca cheese in substitution for the Monterrey Jack. If there is a better recipe for, basically, macaroni and cheese out there, I haven’t had it.
Pairing from this Blog
Several dishes immediately come to mind. Central Post Oak Smoked Texas-Style Brisket, New York Style Steak with Homemade Sauce,
Gather all of your ingredients and measure them out. Then, you can combine all the cheeses into one bowl to mix into the sauce.
Melt the butter in a heavy bottom pan over medium-high heat. Also, preheat an oven to (350°F or 175°C). Place a rack in the center position.
Add the shallots and garlic to the melted butter.
Cook the shallots and garlic until they are tender and translucent.
Add the white wine to the shallot and garlic mixture. Bring to a boil, reducing the wine by three-quarters.
The wine has almost evaporated. So you don’t need to cook all of the wine out, but once you move the mixture around and it is back to primarily shallots and onions with a bit of wine still in the pot, you add the half-half and heavy cream.
Bring the milk back up to a simmer. Now is the time to thicken the sauce with the prepared roux mixture. (The thickening action should happen nearly instantly.) Let this simmer for a few minutes while whisking to mix the sauce before adding the cheese thoroughly.
You can see the thickness of the sauce around the edge. Now is the time to add more cheese. Keep in mind that this process only takes a few minutes.
Add the cheese in handfuls and whisk into the milk sauce. Technically, the sauce is a Mornay sauce at this point. (A Mornay is a Béchamel sauce with the addition of wine and cheese.) Whisk the cheese well in between handfuls before adding more. Once all the cheese is incorporated, it is ready to go. Reduce heat to low, prepare the casserole dish, and boil your choice of pasta.
Butter a deep casserole dish. Here, I’m using a Corningware French White III Round Casserole 1.5-quart.
Cook your favorite type of pasta according to the package directions. Once drained (do not rinse), add the pasta to a large mixing bowl.
Add the cheese sauce to the pasta and stir to mix.
Once thoroughly combined, add this to the prepared casserole dish.
Add the pasta and sauce to the prepared casserole dish.
In another mixing bowl, add the panko bread crumbs. Choose butter, olive oil, or truffle oil (if using) and stir to combine.
Once the breadcrumbs are seasoned, they are ready to top the pasta and cheese mixture.
Spread the prepared bread crumbs over the pasta and cheese mixture.
I’m first covering the pasta dish with plastic wrap to keep the sauce’s moisture intact. The plastic wrap will not melt if you cover it with heavy-duty foil and bake it at the temperature and time described.
Next, cover it with heavy-duty aluminum foil. In this case, I want to preserve moisture. The second is to use this technique to prevent a chemical reaction between the foil and something with a high acid content, like mashed potatoes or tomato-based sauce. In both cases, the aluminum foil will dissolve into the food. Again, plastic wrap creates a barrier to protect it.
Once the cheese is bubbling and heated through, uncover the dish from the foil and plastic wrap. Turn on the broiler function of your oven and carefully brown the bread crumbs. Since most broilers heat up to (500°F or 260°C), do not leave this dish. Remove the casserole dish from the oven once the bread crumbs are golden brown (2-3 minutes). Allow the Conchiglie Pasta and Cheese to rest for 8-10 minutes before attempting to serve. This dish will remain hot with cream, cheese, and pasta for 20-30 minutes. If you need to work on other items, place the container uncovered in an oven at (140°F or 60°C) to keep warm until they are ready to serve.
Conchiglie Pasta and Cheese
Equipment
- large pot for boiling water
- heat resistant spatula
- Plastic wrap
- aluminum foil
- measuring cups and spoons
- medium mixing bowls
- chef knife
- cutting board
- colander
Ingredients
Cheese Sauce
- 1/4 cup garlic, peeled and minced
- 1 cup shallots, peeled, trimmed, and minced
- 4 tbsp butter, divided in half (2 tbs for sweating the shallots, garlic, and 2 tbsp for the roux)
- 1/4 cup oil, avocado, or vegetable
- 2 cups wine, white
- 2 cups cream, heavy
- 2 cups half & half
- 2 tsp chicken base, like More Than Gourmet
- 2 tsp Tabasco-style hot sauce
- 1 tsp pepper, black, freshly ground
- 4 tbsp flour, all-purpose (add remaining butter-heat and mix separately)
- 1/2 cup cheese, Parmesan, grated
- 1/2 cup cheese, Provolone, grated
- 1/2 cup cheese, Monterey Jack, grated
- 2/3 cup cheese, Cheddar, sharp, grated
- 2/3 lb Conchiglie, pasta, or Sea Shell Pasta
- To taste Salt, kosher
To make the topping:
- ¼ cup panko bread crumbs
- ⅛ cup oil, olive, butter, melted, or truffle oil
- To taste salt and black pepper
Instructions
Prep the Oven
- Preheat the oven to (350°F or 175°C). Set a rack in the center position in the range.
Prepare the Crumb Topping
- In a medium mixing bowl and the Panko bread crumbs; next, add ⅛ cup of olive oil or melted butter. Stir to incorporate. (If you like truffle oil, this is the point to add it instead of the olive oil or melted butter.) Reserve
Prepare the Baking Dish
- Next, prepare the baking dish by rubbing it down with a knob of butter. Reserve
Shredding the Cheese
- Shred each kind of cheese and mixed them in a medium bowl. Reserve
Make the Roux
- In another small saucepan, create a roux by melting the remaining two tablespoons of butter then whisking in flour. The roux will be a paste-like consistency. Whisk continually until very light blonde in color and cook briefly (approximately 1-3 minutes). Reserve
Making the Sauce and Pasta
- In a heavy bottom large pot over medium-high heat, sweat garlic and shallots in 2 tablespoons of butter and oil until translucent. Next, add two cups of white wine and reduce it by two-thirds. The wine reduction will take a little time, but this is where you get a lot of flavors.
- Next, add heavy cream, half-half, chicken base, freshly ground black pepper and Tabasco-style hot sauce. Bring back to a simmer.
- Next, add the roux mixture to the cream, shallot, cheese mixture. Simmer the sauce for 5 minutes or slightly thickened.
- Begin adding the mixed cheese—three handfuls at a time to incorporate-whisking in between and bring sauce to a gentle simmer. Next, reduce the heat to low and prepare the pasta.
- Boil the pasta as to the directions given. Drain the pasta, but do not rinse. Add the pasta to the cheese sauce immediately and stir to incorporate. Prepare to bake.
Prepare for Baking
- Add the pasta and cheese mixture to the prepared 1.5 Qt casserole dish. Cover the dish first with plastic wrap and then with aluminum. Bake at 350º for 50-60 minutes or until the pasta is bubbling and piping hot with an internal temp of at least (150°-160°F or 65°-70°C)
- Remove the foil, plastic wrap, and set the broiler high (around 500°F or 260°C). Next, add the seasoned reserved bread crumbs on top of the pasta. Broil uncovered to crisp up the bread crumbs. Browning will occur quickly (2-4 minutes), so stay on this task while performing. Promptly remove once the bread crumbs are golden brown.
- Let the casserole cool about 5-8 (minutes) on a wire cooling rack or heat resistant surface.
- Serve immediately or when desired. Keep warm in an oven if needed.
Notes