Saturday was turning out to be quite dreary and it was the last day of lent so I wanted something comforting but new and impressive for dinner that night. We had made it through lent without any meat but we still had one dinner to go. I had bought some crab meat about a week ago with the intention of making corn and crab bisque but that had not yet happened so when I came across a recipe for Crab Macaroni and Cheese that became “What’s For Dinner”. I had all the ingrediants except for some Fontina cheese. Unfortunately it did not appear that my local grocery store carried Fontina. However we did find Fontinella Cheese which we assumed had to be closely related but it turns out we were wrong. Since this turned out so delicious I guess that it didn’t matter that we were wrong, and since I still don’t know what it was suppose to taste like (I’m not sure what Fontina tastes like) I will pretend, and from now on state, that this was the perfect combination. Ed loved this! In the future I would lower the amount of liquid (maybe a 1/2 cup) as ours came out slightly soupy and I would love to add just a little Old Bay or maybe a bit of Sherry but this was an excellent recipe as is. Enjoy!!!
Crab Macaroni and Cheese
adapted from Northwest Noshings who adapted it from Everyday Pasta by Giada De Laurentiis
12 ounces macaroni
1 ¾ cups whole milk
2 cups heavy cream (I ran out of heavy cream so I used 1 1/2 cups heavy cream and 1/2 cup regular whipping cream)
2 teaspoons all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 cup (packed) grated fontinella cheese
¾ cup cheddar cheese (I used a mix of white and sharp cheddar)
½ cup (packed) finely grated Parmesan cheese
¼ cup (packed) grated mozzarella cheese (I used shredded)
¾ cup ricotta cheese
10 ounces Dungeness crab meat
4 TBSP breadcrumbs (I omitted)
2 TBSP unsalted butter, cut into 8 pieces (I omitted)
Preheat the oven to 450°F. Spray a 9 x 13 x 2-inch glass baking dish with a butter flavored cooking spray.
Cook the noodles in a large pot of boiling salted water until tender but still firm to the bite, stirring frequently, about 5 minutes (I cooked them for about 7 minutes). Drain well (do not rinse).
Whisk the milk, cream, flour, salt, and pepper in a large bowl to blend. Stir in the fontina, cheddar, Parmesan, mozzarella, and ricotta cheeses. Add the macaroni and toss to coat. Fold in crab meat.
Transfer the macaroni mixture to the prepared baking dish. Sprinkle breadcrumbs and place butter pieces on top of breadcrumbs.
Bake until the sauce bubbles and the cheese melts and begins to brown on top, about 15 minutes (It took ours closer to 25 minutes). Let stand for 10 minutes. Serve warm.
Mmm that sounds so good. Especially on a day like today where it is gloomy and cold… perfect comfort food!
This sounds amazing! I love crab… I love mac ‘n cheese… it’s the perfect combination! 🙂
Now this looks like a decadent mac & cheese recipe!!
Glad you liked it.