Saturday, January 30, 2010

mac and cheese!

I made this mac and cheese earlier this week but I never got around to posting it. I know most M&C enthusiasts would say that tomatoes don't belong on top but it's delicious! I personally love tomatoes so it can do no wrong (I also think broccoli would be great in m&c). It's a good recipe but I wouldn't say it's my go-to recipe for mac and cheese. The search continues!
homemade mac and cheese

Recipe by Martha Stewart
Ingredients
  • 6 small tomatoes-cut into 1/4 inch slices
  • 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1.5 teaspoon fresh thyme (I only had dried and cut it in half)
  • salt/pepper
  • 5 slices of white bread (I used wheat since it was all I had)
  • 2 tablespoon butter
  • 1 lb macaroni
  • 2 cups chicken stock
  • 5 tablespoon all purpose flour
  • pinch of nutmeg
  • pinch of cayenne pepper
  • 2 cups low-fat milk
  • 8 oz sharp cheddar-grated
  • 1/2 cup parmesan-grated
Directions:
  • Preheat oven to 400 degrees, spread tomatoes on a baking sheet, drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle thyme, salt and pepper. Bake until tomatoes are soft (about 20 mins)
  • In the food processor, process bread until coarse. Melt 1 tablespoon butter with 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a pan and toast bread crumbs. Season with salt and pepper.
  • Cook pasta to al dente, drain and run under cold water to stop cooking and transfer into a large bowl
  • Whisk 1/2 cup of stock with flour in a medium bowl and set aside. Melt remaning tablespoon of butter over medium heat. Stir nutmeg, cayenne, remaining 1/2 teaspoon of thyme and 1 teaspoon of salt. Add milk and rest of stock (1 1/2 cups). Whisk in flour mixture. Bring to boil and reduce to simmer and cook for 8 mins. Add cheese and stir until melted.
  • Pour cheese mixture over pasta. Put eight 4 1/2-by-1 1/4-inch ramekins on a baking sheet. Put 2 tomato slices in bottom of each ramekin. Divide macaroni mixture evenly among ramekins. Top each with a tomato slice. Sprinkle with breadcrumbs and thyme sprigs. Bake until bubbling and golden brown, about 30 minutes. Serve immediately.
homemade mac and cheese

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