Friday, October 22, 2010

Venetian "Mac and Cheese"

Tonight's recipe is from Everyday Pasta, the wonderful cookbook by Giada De Laurentiis, who happens to be the featured chef on the I Heart Cooking Club blog.
One word, well okay three words, and I quote, "This is delicious!" I am glad I made 1/2 the recipe because we would have eaten the whole pan. Was it the cream, the fontina cheese? I think this is going to be our 2nd favorite baked macaroni recipe. Sorry but my mom's will always be #1.

It was quick to prepare. I started preparing dinner at 6pm and by 7pm photos were taken and dinner was being served. The only change I made was using prosciutto instead of the boil ham, seriously boiled ham?

Ingredients
6 oz. wide egg noodles
1 1/4 milk (1%)
1 cup heavy cream
1 tsp. flour
1/4 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. fresh ground pepper
1 cup grated fontina cheese
1/4 cup mozzarella cheese
2 oz. prosciutto
1 tbsp. chopped fresh parsley

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Butter square Pyrex baking dish. Cook the noodles in a large pot of boiling salted butter until tender but firm to the bite, stirring frequently, about 8 minutes. Drain well (do not rinse).

Whisk milk, cream, flour, salt,and pepper in a bowl to blend. Stir in 1/2 cup fontina, 1/4 cup Parmesan, 1/4 mozzarella, the prosciutto and parsley. Add the noodles and toss to coat. Transfer the noodle mixture to the prepared baking dish. Combine the remaining fontina, Parmesan, mozzarella in small bowl and toss to blend. Sprinkle the cheese mixture over the noodle mixture. Bake until the sauce bubbles and the cheese melts and begins to brown on top, about 15 minutes. Let stand for 10 minutes. Serve warm.

Did some test baking for next weeks Halloween party. Will not be using this recipe. Sorry Archie.

11 comments:

Couscous & Consciousness said...

Yum - noodles, cream, cheese, prosciutto - what's not to love :-)
Sue

My Little Space said...

Hmm....mm...my favourite creamy pasta! Thank you. And your Halloween cookies look awesome too. And what is your cat doing there? hehe... Did you count the cookies? Have a great weekend.
Kristy

NKP said...

Oh my, that does look good! All my favourite things, in one dish!

Debi said...

Now I definitely have to try this mac n cheese. Jack will LOVE it! And what's with boiled ham?? Yeah I will make your substitution. Archie looks very seasonal with the ghost cookies. Good thing you guys aren't superstitious, because he must always be crossing your path. :)

Nico said...

hey, I just found this via IHCC. This looks amazing. And I have to say that the way you define this blog in the header is one of the sweetest things I have ever read.

And your kitten is adorable.

Deb in Hawaii said...

Of course you have to love Mom's recipe the best but this one does look delicious. ;-) Great potluck pick.

Whats Cookin Italian Style Cuisine said...

great touch with prosuitto!

Heather S-G said...

Well...never apologize for liking mom's best!! This does sound like a good one...I mean, can you go wrong w/ prosciutto??? YUM!

Kim said...

Mom's recipe is always best, but knowing that this one is a close second is great news! This recipe is definitely on my radar. And, I'm going to choose prosciutto over boiled ham any day of the week ;-)

Allison said...

Yours looks great! I made this a few months ago and something went really wrong. Still not sure what, but both my hubby and I felt sick after. Your post almost makes me want to try again...almost...

Kelly said...

I wish that I could say that I would choose a Marinara Sauce over a creamy, cheesy sauce but I would be lying. This looks delicious!