and seen online here
Ingredients
- 1 pound cavatappi pasta, hollow, fat corkscrew shaped pasta or pasta elbow pasta
- Salt
- 1 tablespoon EVOO - Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 1 small onion, finely chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
- 2 tablespoons sweet paprika, plus additional for garnish
- Salt and black pepper
- 3 tablespoons flour
- 2 cups milk
- 2 teaspoons hot sauce
- 3 cups sharp yellow cheddar, grated
- 2 4-ounce jars of pimientos, drained
- 1/4 cup flat or curly parsley, finely chopped
Preparation
Preheat broiler to high or oven to 400°F.
Place a large pot of water over high heat and bring it up to a boil to cook the pasta. Once at a boil, add pasta and salt the water, cook to just shy of al dente.
Heat a large pot over medium heat with EVOO and butter. When butter melts, add the onions, garlic, salt and pepper, and cook until softened, about 5 minutes, stir in paprika. Add the flour and cook a minute more. Whisk in milk and hot sauce, and bring up to a bubble, thicken a minute or 2. Turn off the heat, and stir in half of the cheese in a figure-eight motion until melted.
When the pasta is done, drain it well and add it to the pot with the cheese sauce. Toss to combine. Fold in the drained pimentos, pour into into baking dish and top with the remaining cheese, brown under the broiler.
Garnish with the chopped parsley and a generous sprinkle of sweet paprika.
The generous sprinkle of paprika doesn't come through here. :)
Heat a large pot over medium heat with EVOO and butter. When butter melts, add the onions, garlic, salt and pepper, and cook until softened, about 5 minutes, stir in paprika. Add the flour and cook a minute more. Whisk in milk and hot sauce, and bring up to a bubble, thicken a minute or 2. Turn off the heat, and stir in half of the cheese in a figure-eight motion until melted.
When the pasta is done, drain it well and add it to the pot with the cheese sauce. Toss to combine. Fold in the drained pimentos, pour into into baking dish and top with the remaining cheese, brown under the broiler.
Garnish with the chopped parsley and a generous sprinkle of sweet paprika.
I should start off by confessing 2 things: 1. I love Mac n Cheese. In fact, I love Kraft Mac n Cheese too - something that causes many adults I know to shiver in horror. I was going to link to another Mac N Cheese recipe that I had made but then remembered that I didn't blog it because it tasted THAT bad (not Rachel Ray).
This Mac n Cheese was...ok.
The kids ate it quite happily.
I found that it tasted fine. My favorite part was the nifty shaped pasta.
I guess my second confession would be useful here. I didn't put in pimientos. I wish I could say it was because I didn't like them. Unfortunately the truth is far more pitiful. I have never eaten a pimiento. I would also be hard pressed to identify a pimiento in a food line up. There was just some part of my brain that balked at the very idea of putting a food named pimiento into something as wonderful as Mac N Cheese. I do muse now (don't we all have the best thoughts AFTER the fact?) that maybe pimientos would have taken the mac n cheese from merely fine to stupendous. I suppose I will never know because I didn't love it enough to make it again.
I did take the leftovers to work. I put them in the fridge labeled with a post-it note saying "Eat me". I then wrote out a note inviting people to taste free, unknown, mystery food. It took a couple of hours but finally Mr. Click-Click took the challenge. His take? While edible, it needs tomato sauce and sausage. The funny thing is...Mr Cheerios said the same thing. Why would anyone put sausage in Mac N Cheese? I don't get boys...
1 comment:
Hmmm...interesting, while I adore Rachel Ray and use her garbage bowl idea religiously I am unsure about this Mac and Cheese. I hate the stuff but my hubby loves it, I on the other hand adore green olives and most assuredly would of used the pimentos. May give this one a try, I will let you know if I do!
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