Four Cheese Macaroni Serves 8
Ingredients Preparation
Cheese Sauce
2 oz. Whole Butter
1 oz. All-Purpose Flour
3 qt. Shellfish Demi-Glace (shrimp, lobster
or crab)
1 pt. Whole Milk
1/4 tsp. Cayenne Pepper
1/4 Whole Nutmeg (finely shaved)
1/3 cup Pepper Jack Cheese (grated)
1/3 cup Jarlsburg Cheese (grated)
1/3 cup Extra Sharp Aged White Cheddar
(grated)
1/3 cup Yellow Sharp Cheddar (grated) Cheese Sauce
Macaroni
6 oz. Tubetti Pasta
½ lb. Jumbo Lump Crab
1 Medium Sweet Yellow Onion (julienned)
2 oz. Pepper Jack Cheese (grated)
2 oz. Jarlsburg Cheese (grated)
2 oz. Extra Sharp Aged White Cheddar
(grated)
2 oz. Yellow Sharp Cheddar (grated)
6 San Danielle Proscuitto (julienned thinly
sliced)
Bread Crumb Topping
2 Tbs. Butter (melted)
½ cup Panko Bread Crumbs
1 tsp. Chervil (chopped)
1 tsp. Chives (chopped)
1 tsp. Dill (chopped)
1 tsp. Parsley (chopped)
Salt and Black Pepper to taste
Melt the butter in a pan, then whip in the
flour to make a roux. The consistency
should be like creamy peanut butter.
Cook the roux over medium heat for 15
minutes.
Reduce the shellfish demi-glace to 8 oz. for
the correct strength.
Heat the milk and 8 ounces of shellfish
demi-glace together to just under a simmer.
Add to roux, whipping constantly until
incorporated.
Let the mixture simmer for 20 minutes,
then season with the cayenne pepper and
nutmeg and remove from heat.
After removing from heat, stir in the four
cheeses, gradually starting with the pepper
jack, then followed by the other three
(no particular order) until the cheese is
completely melted, resulting in a smooth
cheese sauce. Do not return to the stove at
this point to avoid a grainy texture.
Bread Crumb Topping
While the mac is baking, melt the butter in
a sauté pan and add the panko crumbs. Stir
with a rubber spatula until the crumbs are
evenly coated with butter.
Add the chopped herbs and season to taste
with salt and black pepper.
When the mac has baked for 15 minutes,
remove the plastic and foil and scatter the
bread crumbs evenly across the top. Return
to the oven for 5 more minutes until the
breadcrumbs brown evenly and the surface
is bubbling.
Assembly
Serve hot in the cooking vessel.
Wine Match
Chardonnay, Edi Simcic, Riserva, Goriška
Brda, Slovenia, 2009.
Macaroni
While the cheese sauce is being made, boil
the tubetti pasta in salted water until very
al dente. When the pasta is done, add it
to the cheese sauce then stir and season
with salt and black pepper to taste. Fold
in the crab and place entire the mixture in
a 10-inch round casserole dish. Caramelize
the yellow onion in some canola oil on low
heat to cook evenly, stirring frequently.
When the onion is light brown it is done.
Sprinkle in 2 oz. of each grated cheese,
then add the crispy prosciutto and then
the caramelized onions on top of the mac.
Cover it with plastic wrap then foil and
bake at 350°F for 15 minutes. If baking from a
cold state, the cooking time is 40 minutes.
Volume 3 • Issue 39
45