Four Cheese Macaroni & Cheese

Monday Fun-day. It's the day after the Superbowl XLVI bonanza between the NY Giants and NE Patriots. Did you watch the game or watch the commercials for giggles? I'm all about the entertainment and tasty foods, and mostly hosting the Superbowl party. My most favorite commercial has to be the one with the M&Ms where Ms. Brown (Vanessa Williams) is mocked about the color of shell looking like she is naked and argues that her color is milk chocolate. Then the crazy Red M&M strips down to his brown shell to my most favorite LMFAO tune to "Sexy and I know It." It was pretty clever and hilarious because he also did the "wiggle wiggle wiggle" dance.

My husband and I had hosted a simple Superbowl party with our friends. I made my tasty buffalo chicken tacos, bacon wrapped jalapeno poppers, fried macaroni and cheese bites, and football shaped sugar cookies. Nothing but the best game-style foods right? The fried macaroni and cheese bites were something that I had been wanting to make because I had made this large batch of four cheese macaroni and cheese.

Last year while traveling in Italy, Eric and I had picked up a bottle of white truffle oil while we were in Florence. I really wanted to take a couple truffles home with me, but that would have cost me a small Italian fortune. Truffle oil was the next best thing and easier to pack up in my travel bag. Truffle oil adds an extra smoky flavor that is hard to describe, but was the key ingredient that motivated myself to make this dish. This was one extravagant macaroni and cheese dinner filled with some tasty cheeses, and a comforting meal to enjoy, too.

Four Cheese Macaroni and Cheese
Adapted from Bobby Flay
Printable Recipe
Ingredients:
1 pound elbow macaroni
Kosher salt
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
4 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 cups hot whole milk
1 teaspoon ground white pepper
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
3/4 cup grated fontina cheese
3/4 grated gouda cheese
3/4 cup grated extra sharp white cheddar cheese
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
1/2 cup panko crumbs
1/2 teaspoon to 1 teaspoon truffle oil *Optional*

Preparation:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Prepare the macaroni to the package directions.

While the macaroni is cooking, heat the butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Do not let the butter brown and slowly add the flour and whisk at a constant speed until a roux forms. Cook the roux over low heat for at least 5 to 7 minutes. Add the milk in a steady stream.

Cook the white sauce for 10 minutes and then add the spices, salt, fontina, gouda and white cheddar cheeses until they have melted, about 2 minutes.

Drain the pasta and place into a large 9x13 casserole dish. Pour in the cheese sauce on top. Sprinkle the panko crumbs and parmesan cheese on top and let bake for 10 minutes. Turn on the broiler and let the tops slightly brown the tops for a couple minutes, 3 to 4 minutes.

Let rest for 10 minutes before serving.

Yield: 8 servings

Review: Cheesy and scrumptious. The magic ingredient here is the white truffle oil. You can easily omit it, but if you like to live dangerous and indulge in the wonder fruit of Italia - you need to invest in a small bottle. You only need a small drizzle of this magic potion because it adds that extra OOMPH wow factor. Trust me. Buy some if you can. Tomorrow, I'll share the simple recipe to do use up the macaroni and cheese leftovers. ;-)

Fun Baby News: Of all the days, I'm taking my 2 hour glucose screening test this fine Monday morning. Let's hope all the tasty foods that I devoured on Superbowl Sunday didn't affect the outcome of my tests. Supposedly the sugary fizzy bubbly will determine if I have gestational diabetes or not. Let's hope for good news. :::Crossing fingers, legs and toes..:::
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