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Recipe from: fullforkahead Image Credit: KMont |
Crab
Cake Mac & Cheese
“It needs
very little boiling time. You want it to be partially undercooked since it will
finish cooking in the oven.” Kmont
Ingredients:
1 pound cavatappi or elbow pasta with lines on
conchiglie (small fat tube/shell shaped pasta
with lines)
2 tablespoons
extra-virgin olive oil
6 tablespoons
butter
3 ribs celery
with leafy tops, finely chopped
1 medium
onion, finely chopped
1/2 small red
bell pepper, seeded and finely chopped
3 to 4 cloves
garlic, finely chopped
1 bay leaf
About 2
tablespoons freshly chopped thyme leaves, several sprigs
About 1
tablespoon grated lemon zest
Freshly
ground black pepper
3/4 pound
fresh lump crabmeat, picked for shells and flaked
1 tablespoon
seafood seasoning (recommended: Old Bay)
3 tablespoons
all-purpose flour
2 1/2 cups
milk
Freshly
grated nutmeg, to taste
1 tablespoon
Dijon mustard
1/3 pound,
about 1 rounded cup grated sharp white Cheddar
1/3 pound,
about 1 rounded cup shredded Gruyère or Swiss cheese
3 tablespoons
hot sauce (recommended: Frank’s Red Hot)
1 cup panko
bread crumbs
A generous
handful flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
1/2 cup
grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, a couple of handfuls
Preparation:
Bring a large
pot of water to a boil over medium heat, and then salt the water.
Add the pasta and cook for 3 to 4 minutes, (it
will be undercooked).
Cool, drain
well and add it to a large bowl.
Meanwhile, in
a medium saucepan, heat 2 tablespoons of extra-virgin olive oil, 2 turns of the
pan, and 1 tablespoon of the butter over medium to medium-high heat.
Add the
celery, onion, red pepper, garlic, bay leaf, thyme, lemon zest, salt and
pepper, to taste.
Cook to tender, 6 to 8 minutes.
Add the
crabmeat to the vegetables and season liberally with seafood seasoning. Stir to
combine, and then remove from heat.
In a medium
sauce pot, over low heat, melt 3 tablespoons butter and whisk in the flour.
Cook for 1
minute, then whisk in the milk and bring to a bubble.
Season the
sauce with salt, pepper and nutmeg, to taste, and cook for a few minutes, until
the
mixture coats the back of a spoon.
Add the
mustard and the cheese and stir in a figure 8 motion.
Add the
vegetables and crab, and sauce to the bowl with the pasta and transfer the
mixture to
individual baking crocks or a large casserole dish.
This can be
made ahead to this point and refrigerated.
Preheat the
oven to 375 degrees F.
To complete
the dish, melt a couple of tablespoons butter in a small skillet, over low heat
and
add 3 tablespoons hot sauce.
Warm through,
then add the panko crumbs and toss to evenly coat the crumbs in sauce mixture.
Cool the
crumbs, then toss in the parsley and 1/2 cup grated Parmigiano -Reggiano
cheese.
Top the mac n
cheese with the spicy crumb mixture.
Arrange
individual crocks on a baking sheet or put the casserole on baking sheet to
catch any
drips.
Bake until
brown and heated through, about 10 minutes. If cooking from cold, the mac n
cheese
will take 40 to 45 minutes, but add the crumbs the last 10 minutes of
baking.
Notes:
For the milk,
just use what you have on hand. We used 2%.
Leftovers
will reheat really well in the oven. Just place in a casserole (I just dumped
ours in all
mixed up) and bake at 350 degrees again till heated through. If you
set it out for a while to get
closer to room temperature, it might only take 15
minutes or so in the oven. Putting it in the oven straight from the fridge
might take more like 30 minutes. Again, your oven might vary.
Don’t forget
to discard the bay leaf before adding the crab veggie mixture to the sauce and
pasta. It doesn’t say to remove it, but who wants to eat a crisp-ish leaf, no
matter if it’s a
seasoning or not.
On the crab
meat: an 8 ounce container of lump crab meat wasn’t quite enough, so I got an
additional container of claw crab meat, which was much cheaper. If an 8 ounce
container of the
lump crab is enough for you, then it’s enough. Use whichever
amount you prefer. We ended up
using it all since, what else was I going to use
it for?
Serves: 6
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