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Prep time
25 minutes
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Cook time
20 minutes
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Serves
4 to 6
Author Notes
This recipe is a Middle Eastern take on a mac and cheese thanks to the addition of cumin, an herbaceous za’atar pesto, and crispy fried onions. Cooking the macaroni in the milk, as we do here, bypasses having to make a béchamel. The starches are released into the soon-to-be-cheesy sauce, making it velvety and rich without the need for the more traditional flour-butter roux.
To make the crispy onions, finely slice a couple of onions into thin rounds and toss with 2 tablespoons of cornstarch. Fry in hot vegetable oil in about three batches, for 4 minutes per batch, or until golden. —Food52
Test Kitchen Notes
Cooking mac and cheese in the milk that would be used to make the silk béchamel sauce is one of our favorite cooking hacks. We'd call it a shortcut, but really, it's the ultimate way to imbue the pasta with loads of cheesy, creamy flavor. For this recipe, feel free to play around with adding different kinds of seasoning (we recommend paprika for a kick) and different kinds of melty cheese for a one-of-a-kind experience.
Recipe excerpted with permission from Ottolenghi Test Kitchen: Shelf Love by Noor Murad and Yotam Ottolenghi, published by Clarkson Potter © 2021. —Food52
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Middle Eastern Mac & Cheese With Za’atar Pesto From Ottolenghi Test Kitchen
Ingredients
- For the mac & cheese:
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10 1/2 ounces
(300 grams) dried cavatappi or fusilli pasta
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2 1/2 cups
to 3 cups (600 to 700 milliliters) whole milk
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5 tablespoons
unsalted butter, roughly cut into 1 ¼-inch/3-centimeter cubes
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3
garlic cloves, minced
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1/8 teaspoon
ground turmeric
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1 1/2 teaspoons
cumin seeds, toasted and roughly crushed with a mortar and pestle
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5 tablespoons
(75 grams) heavy cream
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1 1/3 cups
(160 grams) mature cheddar, grated
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6 1/3 ounces
(180 grams) Greek feta, roughly crumbled
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Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
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1/2 cup
(45 grams) crispy onions or shallots, store-bought or homemade
- For the za'atar pesto:
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1
lemon
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3 tablespoons
za'atar
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1 cup
(20 grams) fresh cilantro, leaves and stems both, chopped
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1
garlic clove, chopped
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1/2 cup
(40 grams) pine nuts, lightly toasted
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6 tablespoons
(90 milliliters) extra-virgin olive oil
Directions
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Put the pasta, 2 ½ cups/600 milliliters of milk, 1 ½ cups/360 milliliters of water, butter, garlic, turmeric, 1 teaspoon of salt, and a good grind of pepper into a large sauté pan over medium-high heat. Bring to a simmer, then turn the heat down to medium and cook, stirring occasionally, for 10 to 14 minutes, or until the pasta is al dente and the sauce has thickened from the pasta starches (it will still be quite saucy). If using cavatappi, you might need to add the extra ½ cup/100 milliliters of milk at this stage, depending on how saucy you like your mac and cheese. Turn the heat down to low and stir in the cumin, cream, and both cheeses until the cheddar is nicely melted.
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While the pasta is cooking, make the pesto. Finely zest the lemon to get 1 ½ teaspoons of zest. Then use a small, sharp knife to peel and segment the lemon and roughly chop the segments. Place in a bowl with the lemon zest and set aside. Put the za’atar, cilantro, garlic, pine nuts, ⅛ teaspoon of salt, a good grind of pepper, and half the oil into a food processor. Pulse a few times until you have a coarse paste. Add to the chopped lemon in the bowl and stir in the remaining oil.
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Transfer the mac and cheese to a large serving platter with a lip or a shallow bowl, dot all over with the pesto, then top with the crispy onions.
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Get ahead: Make the Mac and cheese ahead of time if you like, adding a splash of water to thin out when reheating.
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