Fancy Mac and Cheese

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Picture of Fancy Mac and Cheese Recipe Photo: Fancy Mac and Cheese Recipe
Rated 4 stars out of 5
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  • Read 16 Reviews
Total Time:
1 hr 55 min
Prep
30 min
Cook
1 hr 25 min
Yield:
12 servings
Level:
Easy
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This is one of those recipes that can definitely be described as ridiculous, where ridiculous means so decadent, delicious, and divine that it almost renders the person eating it speechless. A little goes a long way with this one. Invite lots of guests... preferably guests you really, really like!

Ingredients

  • 1 pound white button or cremini mushrooms, quartered
  • Olive oil, for drizzling
  • Kosher salt and ground black pepper
  • 8 slices thick-cut bacon
  • 2 yellow onions, peeled, halved and thinly sliced
  • 5 tablespoons butter, plus more for buttering the pan
  • 1 1/2 pounds macaroni
  • 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
  • 2 cups whole milk
  • 1/3 cup half-and-half
  • 2 eggs, beaten
  • 3/4 cup grated fontina
  • 3/4 cup grated gruyere
  • 3/4 cup grated Parmesan
  • 4 ounces crumbled goat cheese (chevre)
  • 4 ounces crumbled gorgonzola or other blue cheese

Directions

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

Drizzle the mushrooms with olive oil, and then sprinkle them with salt and pepper. Roast in the oven until deep golden brown, 20 to 25 minutes. Set aside. Try not to eat them before the macaroni's done. Turn down the heat to 350 degrees F.

Next, fry the thick slices of bacon until chewy, but not yet crisp. Chop up the bacon into bite-size bits. Set aside. Try not to eat them before the macaroni's done.

In a large skillet over medium-low heat, saute the onions in 1 tablespoon of the butter, stirring occasionally, until golden brown, about 15 minutes. Set aside. Try not to... oh, never mind.

Cook the macaroni until just undercooked. Set aside.

To make the sauce, melt the remaining 4 tablespoons butter in a large pot over medium heat. Sprinkle in the flour, whisking to combine. Let the roux cook for a minute or so, whisking constantly. Then pour in the milk, whisking constantly. Cook the white sauce until thick and bubbly, 3 to 5 minutes. Next, add the half-and-half, 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper.

Spoon some of the hot white sauce into the beaten eggs to temper them, stirring with a fork to incorporate the mixture without cooking the eggs. Pour the tempered eggs into the white sauce, stirring constantly as you add them. Add the fontina, gruyere, Parmesan and goat cheeses. Stir until the cheese all melts. Add the cooked macaroni and stir to coat. Splash in a little milk or hot water if needed for thinning.

Butter a 9- by 13-inch baking pan. Lay on half the onions, half the macaroni, half the mushrooms, half the gorgonzola and half the bacon. Repeat the layers, ending with the bacon. Bake until bubbly and hot, 20 to 25 minutes.

This is the stuff that dreams - and love handles - are made of.

Notes

Cook's Notes: Substitute diced ham or pancetta for the bacon. Use different cheese to your liking. Serve with steak or chicken as a side dish, or with a green salad as a main dish.

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Newest Ratings and Reviews

Read all 16 reviews

  • on April 27, 2013

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    D'lish, yum, yum. I only used 1 pound of pasta, knowing I wanted a creamy wet result. The goat cheese added a nice cream to the sauce. The onions and mushrooms added great flavor to the dish. I served this with Ree's Caveman pops aka roasted turkey legs. OMG what a meal.
    My new favorite mac & cheese.

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  • on March 19, 2013

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    Not difficult, but a lot of work including looking for the specialty cheeses. The cheese is expensive. Bought the exact items. A lot of individual component preparation (bacon, onions, mushrooms, pasta, sauce. Proportions are off; plenty of onion, barely enough bacon, and not nough of the mushrooms after roasting. When I folded the pasta into the cheese sauce it looked fine,but after baking (exact temperature and time the sauce was absorbed by the pasta to the point of dryness; not creamy at all. And the cheese sauce was actually too bland which was odd considering all those different cheeses. I could tast the blue cheese and a little bit of the nutty gruyere but the goat cheese and fontina just disappeared. So I had a very expensive rather dry and not very cheesey huge dish of macaroni and cheese with a few nice add ins. Would tweaking this dish would work better? Maybe no baking? I will be looking to see if someone else will modify and improve.

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  • on March 13, 2013

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    This was a tasty dish, we omitted the mushrooms however. The texture was extreme gritty and we were not sure which cheese made it that way. This recipe makes a LARGE amount, it was way too much for a family of 5, we had to eat on this for days.

    people found this review Helpful.
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