Is there anyone who doesn't like mac and cheese? It's so creamy, and tasty and just the right
dish if you are hungry for lunch, or dinner, or just a snack. It's a side dish, it's a meal...it's really quite perfect! But if you are ready to move on from the blue boxed stuff and kick it up a notch, then you will love this Four Cheese Mac & Cheese!
This recipe blends four cheeses that - until I tasted this - I was quite certain never belonged together...ever. Sharp white cheddar, Gruyere (which is in the Swiss family), blue cheese and...are you ready? Velveeta.
Yup. Velveeta.
I'm from the camp that says you either eat the mac and cheese with Velveeta, or you don't, but either way, you definitely don't mix it with other cheeses - and you certainly don't mix it with blue cheese! But aaaah - this recipe may surprise you. It takes the best part of the swiss and blue (the bite) and blends it with the best part of the cheddar and Velveeta (the creaminess) to make total perfection. And it comes together in a snap - let me show you.
The hardest part of this recipe is shredding all of that cheese. You can certainly find white cheddar and gruyere already shredded, but it's important to note than when a cheese is pre-grated like that, there has been some fillers added to prohibit clumping. Sometimes that works in your favor and sometimes it doesn't, and every brand, I'm sure, adopts a different take. My feeling is that if you are going to drop a Jackson or two on cheese - and it's really the star of the show here - do it right and get the good stuff.
You can buy the blue already crumbled; I didn't on this one only because I had no plans for the extra and so this smaller chunk ended up fitting the bill better.
The recipe starts with the pasta boiling until al dente. The sauce starts with some melted butter and sautéing the shallots along with the spices. It really has a nice flavor here so keep the heat low and let it come together for a few minutes. When the shallots are tender, whisk in the flour and let it heat for a minute. This is called a roux and it is the basis for any good cream or cheese sauce. Once the flour incorporates into the shallot mix, slowly pour in the milk.
If you let this heat over medium heat, it will eventually begin to thicken. It should coat the back of a spoon if you dunk it in and lift it out. This is typically around the 10 minute mark, so stay alert.
At this point, the cream part of your cheese sauce is ready to meet the cheese! The pan gets removed from the heat, the bay leaf gets removed from the sauce, and all of the cheese (minus about half of the Gruyere) gets tossed into the cream sauce until melted. Once it's smooth, the pasta can be drained and added along with any salt and pepper you like. If you like your mac and cheese with a kick of heat, feel free to add in red pepper flake, white pepper or even a hit of Tabasco, if that's your thing.
The whole mixture gets dumped into an 8"x 8" dish for baking, but before you place it in your 375 degree oven, it should be topped with the remaining Gruyere and the buttered bread crumbs you made in the beginning that I didn't capture here (see the recipe - it's a piece of cake and will keep your cheese from burning.) I recommend you place the casserole dish on a cookie sheet lined with tin foil for easy cleanup. Mine did not boil over, but this dish will be full, and better safe than sorry.
The casserole bakes for about 30 minutes; you'll know it's ready when the top is nice and browned and the cheese is bubbling up on the sides of the dish. It can be removed from the heat and I would let it sit for 10 minutes so that it congeals a bit and isn't an oozing mess.
And that's it. It has a nice adult flavor and is nice enough to serve for company. You can pair it with sausages or a tossed salad. You can carbo load with some garlic bread. It's quite versatile and sure to impress.
So, if you are looking for an easy, not your ordinary macaroni and cheese meal, try Four Cheese Mac & Cheese.
And if you give it a try, come back and let me know what you think.
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