Serves a Crowd

Fancy Schmancy Mac 'N Cheese

January 24, 2011
0
0 Ratings
  • Serves 6-8
Author Notes

This is an adaptation to a macaroni and cheese recipe from Bon Appetit. I decided to use lobster meat in this, because, well, I had a coupon. Apparently, when living in Maine you can get coupons for fresh lobsters. —KaffeeAndKuchen

What You'll Need
Ingredients
  • 1/4 cup butter
  • 5 cups chopped leeks, white and pale green parts only
  • 1/4 cup flour
  • 3 1/2 cups whole milk, at room temperature
  • 1 pound cheddar cheese
  • 1 tablespoon Dijion style mustard
  • 1 teaspoon hot sauce (like Sriracha
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 pound penne pasta
  • 1 (1-1 1/2) pound lobster
Directions
  1. First put about 1” of water into the bottom of a large pot, and place on medium-high heat. Once the water is boiling, place the lobster in the pot and cover. Steam the lobster for about 6-7 minutes, or until it turns bright red. It doesn’t need to be completely cooked through, but the shell should still be red.
  2. Once the lobster is done, remove it from the pot and let rest until cool enough to handle. I like to pull off the claws first, and then attack the tail. But do it any way it’s easiest for you. Once the lobster has been picked, set the meat aside.
  3. Melt 1/4 cup butter in heavy large saucepan over medium heat. Add leeks; stir to coat. Cover saucepan and cook until leeks are tender, stirring occasionally, about 12 minutes (do not brown). Uncover saucepan; add flour. Stir 2 minutes. Add the milk; bring to simmer, stirring often. (Do Not boil!) Add cheese, mustard, and pepper sauce. Stir until cheese melts. Remove from heat. Season cheese sauce to taste with salt.
  4. Whisk eggs in medium bowl. Slowly whisk in 1 cup cheese sauce, to warm the eggs to sauce temperature. Stir egg mixture into cheese sauce in saucepan.
  5. Meanwhile, cook pasta in large pot of boiling salted water until just tender but still firm to bite, stirring occasionally. Drain. Return to pot.
  6. Preheat oven to 400°F. Stir cheese sauce and lobster into pasta in pot. Transfer to a lightly buttered, large, baking dish. Bake pasta until cheese sauce is bubbling around edges and some ends of pasta are golden brown, 25 to 30 minutes. Let stand 15 minutes.
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