Four Cheese Macaroni & CheeseFour
Ingredients
- 7 tablespoons of butter split throughout
- 4 tablespoons flour
- 2 cups half and half
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon pepper
- ¼ teaspoon Red Hot sauce
- 8 ½ ounces grated good quality parmesan cheese about 2 cups
- 1 pound elbow macaroni
- ½ teaspoon minced garlic
- 4 ounces grated cheddar cheese
- 4 ounces grated fontina cheese
- 4 ounces grated gruyère cheese
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Fill a large pot of water and bring to a boil over high heat to cook the pasta. Once the water boils add the macaroni, and cook for 5 minutes, stirring frequently until slightly undercooked. Drain in a colander and set aside.
- In the large pot, melt 6 tablespoons of butter and add the ½ teaspoon of the minced garlic and stir for about 30 seconds. Add the 4 tablespoons for flour to the butter and whisk over low heat to combine. Cook, stirring constantly, for 3 minutes. Increase the heat to medium and whisk in the half and half a little at a time. Cook until thickened, about 4-5 minutes, stirring frequently. Remove from the heat, season with salt, pepper, hot sauce and 1 cup of the parmesan cheese. Stir until the cheese is melted and sauce is smooth. Add the macaroni to the sauce and stir to combine. Put a lid on it and set it aside.
- Grease a 3 quart baking dish and set aside.
- In a separate bowl, combine the cheddar, fontina, gruyère and the remaining parmesan cheese in the bowl and stir to combine. Spoon ⅓ of the macaroni mixture in the bottom of the baking dish. Top with ⅓ of the mixed cheeses, top with another ⅓ of the macaroni mixture and another ⅓ mixture of the cheeses. Repeat with the remaining macaroni and top with remaining cheese mixture. Top it all off with the remaining parmesan cheese.
- Bake for 40-45 minutes or until the macaroni and cheese are bubbly and hot and the top is golden brown. Remove from the oven and let sit for 5 minutes before serving.
- If you are adding chicken (like I did) I pulled the leftover cold chicken off the bone and just added it to the warm pasta in the colander which eventually ends up in the dish. I used 4-5 leftover chicken drumsticks.
- Enjoy!
We call this the adult version of macaroni and cheese. When you have kids that eat a lot and you are on a budget this probably isn't the macaroni and cheese to make. The cheeses are a little expensive or at least more expensive than just cheddar or pepper jack cheese.
We had family over the weekend and one of our guests made some great barbecue chicken without the skin. I hate throwing food away and we had already had leftovers one night so the second night I went ahead and pulled the chicken off the bone and put it in the macaroni and cheese. It was great! The barbecue chicken had a strong flavor and incorporated really good into the dish.
Four Cheese Macaroni & CheeseFour
Ingredients
- 7 tablespoons of butter split throughout
- 4 tablespoons flour
- 2 cups half and half
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon pepper
- ¼ teaspoon Red Hot sauce
- 8 ½ ounces grated good quality parmesan cheese about 2 cups
- 1 pound elbow macaroni
- ½ teaspoon minced garlic
- 4 ounces grated cheddar cheese
- 4 ounces grated fontina cheese
- 4 ounces grated gruyère cheese
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Fill a large pot of water and bring to a boil over high heat to cook the pasta. Once the water boils add the macaroni, and cook for 5 minutes, stirring frequently until slightly undercooked. Drain in a colander and set aside.
- In the large pot, melt 6 tablespoons of butter and add the ½ teaspoon of the minced garlic and stir for about 30 seconds. Add the 4 tablespoons for flour to the butter and whisk over low heat to combine. Cook, stirring constantly, for 3 minutes. Increase the heat to medium and whisk in the half and half a little at a time. Cook until thickened, about 4-5 minutes, stirring frequently. Remove from the heat, season with salt, pepper, hot sauce and 1 cup of the parmesan cheese. Stir until the cheese is melted and sauce is smooth. Add the macaroni to the sauce and stir to combine. Put a lid on it and set it aside.
- Grease a 3 quart baking dish and set aside.
- In a separate bowl, combine the cheddar, fontina, gruyère and the remaining parmesan cheese in the bowl and stir to combine. Spoon ⅓ of the macaroni mixture in the bottom of the baking dish. Top with ⅓ of the mixed cheeses, top with another ⅓ of the macaroni mixture and another ⅓ mixture of the cheeses. Repeat with the remaining macaroni and top with remaining cheese mixture. Top it all off with the remaining parmesan cheese.
- Bake for 40-45 minutes or until the macaroni and cheese are bubbly and hot and the top is golden brown. Remove from the oven and let sit for 5 minutes before serving.
- If you are adding chicken (like I did) I pulled the leftover cold chicken off the bone and just added it to the warm pasta in the colander which eventually ends up in the dish. I used 4-5 leftover chicken drumsticks.
- Enjoy!
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