Monday, November 25, 2013

MACARONI AND BLEU CHEESE FOR TWO

Bubbly hot out of my trusty toaster oven.
This is my rendition of the recipe Magnolia's Baked Blue Cheese and Macaroni  introduced to us a SCCL Cooking Fingers Club by Elaine Wilson. The dish is to die for, but unless you're having a group it is quite large: one pound of pasta versus one cup. The recipe comes via the Nothing Could Be Finer cookbook, submitted by Chef Donald Barickman, Magnolias Restaurant, Charleston, South Carolina
1 cup dried macaroni
1 Tbsp. butter
1 Tbsp. flour
1 cup ½ and ½

4 oz. mozzarella – grated*
1+ oz. Roquefort, Stilton or other strong blue cheese**
Salt and pepper to taste
Dash of Tabasco

Preheat oven to350°

Cook macaroni until just undercooked, about 8 minutes.

In 4 qt. sauce pan, melt the butter, whisk in the flour to make a roux, then add the ½ and ½ to make a sauce.  Cook for a few minutes. Add shredded mozzarella and stir until thickened.  Stir in the bleu cheese and allow it to melt until maybe just a few lumps are left.

Drain macaroni and add it to the sauce pot, stirring to evenly coat all the pasta.

Grease a small baking dish and pour in the macaroni mixture. Bake for about 1 hour until top is golden and bubbling.


I added some sliced green onions for a bit of color.



*   the original recipe uses Monterey Jack cheese, but I've always got mozzarella on hand so I substituted.
** to be true to our lovely state of South Carolina, you should use Clemson Blue. It is usually available at Young Plantation/Reid's on Rt.521 at Rt.160 in Indian Land.

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