This recipe is a great way to make a meal out of mac’ n cheese. The mushrooms in addition to the various cheeses, really pump up the protein to make for a hearty and fulfilling dish.
- 1 box of penne pasta (I use Dreamfields low carb pasta)
- 1/2 white onion, chopped
- 1/2 sun dried tomatoes in herbs, julienned*
- 1/2 container of baby bella mushrooms, chopped
- 8 oz of gruyere cheese, grated
- 8 oz of fontina cheese, grated
- 8 oz of asiago cheese, grated
- 1 1/2 cups of milk
- 3 tbs flour
- 3 tbs butter
- 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1/2 cup of panko breadcrumbs*
- 1/2 cup of Italian breadcrumbs
- salt and pepper
- olive oil for drizzling
I’ve realized through trial and error that this recipe is all in the prep. The key is to get everything prepped and ready to go before hand so that you can seemlessly assemble your dish.
Start by preheating your oven to 375.
Grate all your cheeses. I find the least labor intensive way to do this is in the food processor with the cheese grater attachment. However, if you don’t have a food processor, skip the weights today and get to grating! You will use most of the cheese for the sauce but reserve about 1/2 cup to top the mac with.
In a small bowl, mix your panko and Italian breadcrumbs and set aside.
Grab a big bowl and add to it your chopped onion, mushrooms and sun-dried tomatoes. The sun-dried tomatoes already come julienned but run your knife through them just to break them up a bit more so that little specs of them stretch all through out the dish. Add a tablespoon of the herb infused oil from the tomatoes to the mixture and toss it all to combine.
Put a large pot of salted water onto boil to cook your penne. Only cook for about half the time though, it’ll finish cooking it in the oven. Drain off and add to sun-dried tomato mixture.
Heat a large skillet over low heat. Add 3 tbs of butter and allow to melt. Once it is completely melted, start adding in your flour a little bit at a time and stir as you go. Once all your flour is incorporated, allow it to cook for 3 – 5 minutes or until it turns a light brown color. This is when you’ll start adding in your milk. You need to add the milk in very slow and stir, stir, stir. At first it will appear to look like wallpaper paste but don’t fret, this is how it should look. Just keep adding your milk, a little at a time until the mixture starts to thin out. Once it thins out completely and all of the flour mixture has been incorporated into the milk, you can add the rest of the milk. Simmer for about 10 minutes and add in your cheeses. Stir until all the cheese melts and forms a sauce.
Add the cheese sauce to the pasta mixture and toss to combine.
Place into a large, oven safe baking dish and top with reserved cheese and breadcrumbs.
Bake for 30 minutes, remove from oven, drizzle with olive oil and set your oven to broil. Place under broiler for 3-4 minutes or until browned on top.
Tips:
- You can find julienned, sun-dried tomatoes in herbs in the produce section of your local grocery store.
- These are Japanese breadcrumbs and can be found in the International aisle of most grocery stores.
If you did the math on this one smartie, you know that this recipe calls for a staggering 24 oz of cheese! That may sound like a lot, and it is, but keep in mind that a serving size is about a palm full so you shouldn’t feel guilty for indulging.
