Six cheese macaroni does sound over the top. But you’d do this too if getting your hands on some good cheese was as big an event for you as it was for me. This past week, I stumbled upon a variety of cheeses at my local supermarket. A dull day suddenly became a lot more exciting as I kept throwing in slab after slab of cheese into my cart. Soon enough I began thinking of all the ways I’d use my cheese. Cheddar biscuits had been on my mind so I got down to making them first. A good mac and cheese was on my list next.
Of course I didn’t start with six cheeses in my mind. When I began thinking about how I’d make my mac and cheese, a three cheese pasta was where my heart was first. But as I put together all my cheese on the table, I realised I could be a wee bit dramatic and instead make a six cheese mac. Just thinking about this, made me a happy, happy girl. I made a sauce that would combine my favourite cheeses and be tossed with some rigatoni and baked until golden with a sage, breadcrumb parmesan crust.
Six Cheese Mac and Cheese
Serves 4 hungry people
Pasta:
250g dried pasta (elbow macaroni/penne/rigatoni)
Salt
Water
Cheese sauce:
3 tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
3-4 cloves of garlic, minced
1 tsp chilli flakes/red chilli powder
2 tbsp all purpose flour
2 cups/500ml Cups milk
1oz/25g Blue cheese (you could use more, I ran out of it)
10z/50g Goat’s cheese (mine had added herbs)
2oz./50g Smoked gouda
2oz./50g Colby cheddar
20z./50g Sharp cheddar
Salt and pepper to taste
Sage, toasted breadcrumb and parmesan crust:
2 oz./50g Parmesan
½ cup Bread crumbs, lightly toasted for 1-2 minutes.(sometimes, I add 1 tbsp butter)
5-6 sage leaves, chopped (you can sub it with your fave herb as well)
- In a large pot, boil the pasta till just about done or al dente. Drain. Set aside.
- In a saucepan heat the 2 tbsp of the oil and then saute the onions for 3 minutes. Add the garlic. Continue to saute until the onions are translucent, 2 more minutes.
- Add in the remaining 1 tbsp of olive oil and add in the flour and stir till all the oil has been absorbed.
- Whisk in the milk, a little at a time, until all the milk has been incorporated and the sauce is thick enough to coat a spoon. Stir frequently for about 5 minutes.
- Stir in the cheeses until uniformly blended.
- Toss the pasta in the cheese sauce and add salt and pepper as desired.
- Toss the parmesan, sage and breadcrumb together for the crust topping.
- Transfer this to a buttered5″x3″ glass baking dish or a gratin dish and top it with the bread crumb mixture.
- Bake it in a preheated oven at 375F/190C for 30 minutes or until topping is golden brown in colour.
- Let it sit for 5 minutes before serving.