Ingredients
- 4 tablespoons butter, plus 1 tablespoon for greasing dish
- Kosher salt
- 1 pound penne pasta
- 2 small shallots, finely chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, chopped
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 5 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1/4 cup white wine
- 4 cups heavy cream
- 1/2 teaspoon sweet paprika
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1 bay leaf
- 2 cups shredded sharp white Cheddar
- 2 cups shredded Gruyere
- 2 (8-ounce) raw lobster tails, defrosted if frozen, meat removed from shell, chopped
- 1/4 cup panko bread crumbs
- 1/4 cup freshly chopped parsley leaves
Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and adjust racks to the middle. Grease a 13 by 9-inch baking dish with butter.
In a large pot of boiling salted water over medium heat, add the pasta and cook until al dente. Drain the pasta and reserve.
Add 4 tablespoons butter to a large pot over medium heat. Once the butter shimmers, add the shallots and garlic and saute until translucent. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Add the tomato paste and flour and stir to toast, about 3 to 4 minutes. Add the white wine and reduce, by half, about 2 minutes. Slowly add the cream, whisking well to remove any lumps. Add the paprika, cayenne, and bay leaf. Bring the cream up to a simmer and turn the heat to low. Let reduce until the cream is thick and can coat a spoon, about 5 to 10 minutes. When thickened, remove the bay leaves.
Stir in the grated cheeses, a handful at a time, combining well after each addition. Add the chopped lobster meat to the sauce and stir well. Add the pasta and stir. Add to the greased baking dish and sprinkle with the panko crumbs and parsley. Bake for 25 minutes. Remove from the oven and let rest for 10 minutes before serving. Sprinkle individual servings with parsley.
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By billypm
on February 15, 2012
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Awesome and surely a cholestrol bomb to splurge on. Don't go sheap on the cheese or the Lobster. I recommend 10 - 12 ounces of lobster. Didn't use bayleaf as I was out and it still was a Valentines dinner she'll not forget!
By niffer21
Gilbert, AZ
on February 14, 2012
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One word...AMAZING! I just made this for my husband for our Valentine's Day dinner. The only changes I made were to use elbow macaroni instead of penne and smoked paprika instead of regular paprika and then I added crumbled bacon on top. Definitely a keeper!!
By MaggieInOly
on December 27, 2011
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I made this recipe twice from scratch each time, the first time for a potluck and the second for a dinner party. Here's the thing: if you want mac and cheese that is evocative of what a lot of us grew up on (the orange stuff from a box, you'll probably like this recipe. It uses penne pasta, is orange, is thick and creamy. Maybe TOO thick. The second time, I used rotini pasta (more adult, lessened the flour to 4 Tbsp. and doubled the wine to make it less thick, and added more shallots, cayenne and lobster per reviewers' advice. I also baked it an additional 5 minutes, as it wasn't very hot the first time. It was better the second time, but not much. I will try some of the other recipes listed, maybe Ina Garten's, hoping for a lighter, more delicate, more creamy, more "adult" version of this dish. And, by the way, don't add parmesan cheese to the topping as someone suggested - I did it for the second recipe and it doesn't add anything special. Gilding the . . . carnation.
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