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Food

Crispy, Creamy Mac and Cheese Recipe

Way fancier than your average shells and cheese.
Crispy, Creamy Mac and Cheese Recipe
Photo by Matt Zuras

Servings: 8
Prep time: 20 minutes
Total time: 1 hour 30 minutes, plus chilling time

Ingredients

for the macaroni gratinée:
½ cup|125 ml whole milk
1 ½ tablespoons sodium citrate
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
2 teaspoons kosher salt, plus more to taste
3 cups|675 grams creme fraiche
4 cups|500 grams mimolette cheese
1 cup|125 grams parmesan cheese
½ pound|225 grams pasticcio pasta

for the béchamel:
7 tablespoons|100 grams unsalted butter, cubed
1 bay leaf
1 small yellow onion, finely chopped
¾ cup|100 grams all-purpose flour
¼ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
¼ teaspoon ground cloves
1 ½ cups|400 ml whole milk
1 ½ teaspoons kosher salt, plus more to taste
½ cup|8 grams roughly chopped fresh dill
½ cup|11 grams roughly chopped fresh parsley
½ bunch fresh garlic chives
1 pound|450 grams sour cream
1 bunch asparagus, trimmed and thinly sliced
fresh herbs
olive oil
freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Directions

  1. Line a loaf pan with plastic wrap and set aside.
  2. Make the macaroni gratinée: In a large saucepan, heat the milk to a simmer. Add in the sodium citrate, sugar, and salt to dissolve. Stir in the creme fraiche, mimolette, and parmesan until smooth. Keep warm.
  3. Meanwhile, bring a large pot of generously salted water to a boil. Add the pasta and cook until al dente, about 6 minutes. Drain, then add the pasta to the cheese sauce, stirring well to coat. At this stage, you could totally place the macaroni and cheese sauce into a casserole dish and bake in the oven at 400°F until nice and golden and bubbly, serving it alongside the béchamel sauce (especially if you don't have any sodium citrate, which acts like a thickening agent). But what you should do is place the pasta and sauce into the prepared loaf pan, straightening out the pasta so that it lies straight and horizontally in the loaf pan, pressing it into it. Chill the loaf pan for up to 4 hours.
  4. Make the béchamel: Heat the butter in a large saucepan over medium. Add the bay leaves and onion and cook until soft, 6 minutes. Sprinkle in the flour, nutmeg, and cloves and cook for 2 to 3 minutes. While whisking constantly, stir in the milk and cook until thick, 2 minutes. Season with the salt and transfer to a blender with the dill, parsley, and garlic chives. Remove the bay lead and purée until smooth. Stir in the creme fraiche and set aside.
  5. When the macaroni is chilled, remove it from the loaf pan. Cut it crosswise into 2-cm (¾-inch) portions. Melt the butter in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high. Cook the slices of macaroni, flipping once, until golden brown and crispy, 3 minutes. Warm up some béchamel sauce and spread it onto the bottom of a plate. Top with the crispy macaroni. Toss the asparagus and herbs in a small bowl with a bit of olive oil, salt, and pepper and serve each slice of macaroni with some asparagus and herbs.

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