Lobster Macaroni and Cheese

I have been wanting to make Lobster Macaroni and Cheese for a long time, I would reckon it goes all the way back to the day I discovered that Carrabba’s was no longer offering it.  I searched for recipes and this is the first one that stuck in my head.  Don’t worry I have another one to try.  I started with Ina Garten’s recipe and worked from there, you know adapting it and making it my own.  We were joking that this was the most expensive experiment we’ve ever done, however now it was totally worth it.

Ingredients:

• 1 pound cavatappi (cork screw pasta)
• 1 clove of garlic whole
• 1 quart milk
• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 scallion finely diced
• 1 clove of garlic grated
• 12 ounces smoked Gruyere, grated (4 cups)
• 8 ounces extra-sharp white cheddar  grated (2 cups)
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon of salt
• 1 1/2 pounds cooked lobster (2 med lobster tails)
• 1  cup  fresh bread crumbs ( I used dry as I always have those around)
• 2 tablespoons of melted butter for crumb topping
• 1/2 teaspoon of herb de providence (or of your choice)

Our cheese all shredded and waiting with the bread crumb topping, oh see the little lobster tail peeking out there?

Since you can cook and drain the pasta I highly recommend getting it started and relaxing, otherwise you have 3 pots on the stove that you are trying to eye ball and no matter how hard I try that damn pasta pot boils over.  So start a large pot of salted water with a whole clove of garlic, once it is boiling add the box of pasta.  Yes 16 oz was an entire box.  In 6-8 minutes you should drain the pasta and return it to the pan for safe keeping.  You don’t want the noodles to be completely done as this dish is getting finished in the oven.

We cooked these little guys on the grill.  It really only takes a few minutes and you’ll know when they are done as they change to a pink/red color. Once cooked let them cool and then remove the meat. Dice or shred, which ever makes you happy.

In a small sauce pan place your quart of milk to warm, do not boil or scald this.  You can just let it sit on the counter till it is room temp before starting.  The idea here is that you are making a classic bechamel sauce and the cold milk causes lumps.  Now in a really big pot (realize you will have ALL the ingredients in here before all is said and done) place your 6 Tbl of butter, add your scallions and garlic and cook for a minute after the butter has melted.  Now add the 1/2 cup of flour, nutmeg, salt and black pepper and cook for 2 minutes.  Keep stirring, you don’t want to burn the flour just cook off the flour taste.  With your whisk going in your pot carefully stir in your warmed milk.  Cook until the mix has become thick and bubbly.  Remove from heat (this is difficult for me because the granite counter tops suck the heat out of hot pots like no ones business) and mix in your cheese.  STIR, STIR, STIR.  Once the cheese is incorporated add the lobster and the cooked noodles.

Ready for the oven.

Prepare (grease, spray with cooking spray or use your pan grease) your baking dish of choice, one large pan or little ramekins it’s all up to you.  Fill the baking dish.  Now to prepare your crumb topping, mix the herbs, bread crumbs and 2 Tbl of butter in a small dish.  Sprinkle the topping over the macaroni and cheese and bake at  for 30-35 minutes or until it is bubbly and the topping is starting to brown. If your pan is this full you might want to sit it in a baking sheet just to protect bubbling over.

All done, golden goodness.

We had a Caesar salad with Orbiter shaped Parmesan crisp for a side.  The mac and cheese is so rich we had to freeze left-overs, and 1/4 of the pan feeds us both really well.  We froze it in packages big enough to feed us both for dinner and left some for lunch. This total pan fed us for 3 dinners and lunch for both of us.  To prepare the frozen mac I place it in an oven safe pan with a fair amount of whole cream (it’s what I had, don’t judge I know it’s full of calories) and baked at 350 degrees. I would of preferred it to be thawed and reheated in the oven but we traveled out of town with the frozen block in a cooler, guess 3 hours wasn’t long enough to thaw it.  Just keep checking and stirring till it’s hot and bubbly again.  I did however brush off the crumb topping, that would never make it a second time around.  To be honest, next time I leave it off all together.

Gratuitous Caesar salad shot. 🙂

I can’t wait to make this again. I have been told that the Fresh Market here in Nashville has a great price on lobster tails. ENJOY!