Baked Mac and Cheese with Garlic Confit
This is not your regular mac and cheese. It's mac and cheese for the garlic lover.
Servings: 4
Ingredients
- 8 oz macaroni pasta
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 6 tbsp butter salted
- 1/2 cup white all purpose flour
- 1 garlic bulb or 2 garlic cloves finely diced
- 3 cups milk
- 1 cup red or white cheddar grated + 1/4 cup extra
- 1/2 cup Jarlsberg cheese grated
- 1/2 cup gruyere grated
- salt and pepper
Instructions
- Preheat oven: Preheat oven to 180°C / 350°F.
- Bake garlic: Using a sharp knife, slice the top off the garlic bulb, about 2 – 3 cm down from the top to expose the raw cloves. Place the bulb of garlic into the centre of an oven proof dish, drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Bake for 1 hour.
- Remove garlic cloves: Allow the garlic to slightly cool until you are able to handle it. Using your fingers, squeeze the roasted garlic cloves out of their skin. Set to the side.
- Boil pasta: Bring a large pot of heavily salted water to the boil. Follow the instructions on the back of the pasta packet for al dente pasta and drain your pasta 2 minutes before the suggested cooking time. Stir through a teaspoon of butter through the drained pasta and leave to slightly cool.
- Make roux: In an oven proof pot on a medium heat, combine the butter and olive oil and cook until melted. Add the flour and garlic to the pan and whisk to form a roux. Stir constantly for 1 – 2 minutes.
- Add milk: Add the milk to the roux, one cup at a time and whisk until combined and lump free. Repeat this step 2 more times until you have used up all the milk. Whisk the sauce for 5 minutes or until slightly thickened.
- Add cheese: Take off the heat and stir through the cheese with a big pinch of salt and pepper. Season to taste. Add the pasta to the sauce and stir through.
- Bake: Sprinkle 1/4 cup mozzarella cheese all over and bake for 15 minutes or until golden on top. Serve immediately.
Video
Notes
- Garlic confit: While I love to use my garlic confit as much as I can, this can be replaced with 2 cloves of raw garlic.
- Cheese: I like to use a mix of gruyere, cheddar and jarlsberg but a lovely Colby Jack, some grated parmesan or Velveeta would work well too. Just make sure you freshly grate your cheese and don't buy pre-grated as it does make a difference!
- Pasta: Short, twisty shapes work best like macaroni, cavatappi, small shells or fusilli to catch all that creamy sauce.
Nutrition
Calories: 624kcal | Carbohydrates: 51g | Protein: 22g | Fat: 37g | Saturated Fat: 21g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 10g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 96mg | Sodium: 421mg | Potassium: 424mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 11g | Vitamin A: 1087IU | Calcium: 517mg | Iron: 1mg
