Thursday, September 27, 2012

Sage Butter Macaroni and Four Cheese



This is comfort food at it's best!!

Better than plain mac 'n cheese is the decadence of four cheeses, sage and a delicious crunchy topping!!

One of my new favorite cooking shows is Ask Aida on The Cooking Channel . . . check it out sometime!  That is where I found this recipe.  The link to The Cooking Channel is listed after the recipe.





INGREDIENTS



3 tablespoons unsalted butter, plus extra for baking dish
4 ounces finely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano (about 1 cup)
1/4 cup unseasoned dry bread crumbs
1 pound macaroni
3 tablespoons thinly sliced sage
6 ounces shredded Gruyere cheese
4 ounces shredded aged Cheddar
4 ounces mascarpone cheese
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper


DIRECTIONS

Heat oven to broil and arrange rack in top. Butter a 9 by 9-inch baking dish and set aside. Melt 1 tablespoon of the remaining butter and mix in a medium bowl with 1 cup of the Parmigiano and all the bread crumbs until thoroughly moistened; set aside.

Bring a large pot of heavily salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook for half the time indicated on package.

Meanwhile, melt remaining 2 tablespoons butter in a large frying pan over medium heat. When it starts to foam, add sage and cook until crisp and butter begins to turn golden brown. Remove from heat and set aside until pasta is ready. Reserve 1 cup pasta water and drain pasta.

Return pasta to pot and place over low heat. Stir in sage butter, reserved pasta water, remaining 3 cups Parmigiano, Gruyere, Cheddar, mascarpone, and salt, and season with freshly ground black pepper. Stir constantly until cheeses are evenly melted and the pasta looks well coated. 

Turn pasta into baking dish and evenly top with bread crumb mixture. Place under broiler until mixture bubbles and top is browned, about 1 to 2 minutes. Let sit 5 minutes before serving.

6 comments:

Catherine said...

Dear Gina, This sounds wonderful. There is nothing like a good mac and cheese!
I miss visiting daily from EC. I hope something new like EC pops up soon.
Hoping all is well and you are fine. Blessings dear friend. Catherine xo

Gina Alfani said...

Hi Catherine!

I am so glad I kept a list in my favorites of some blogs I visited from Entrecard. I was very upset when Adgetize shut down, but we still had Entrecard. I had not been as active as in the past, but I will still miss it too!!

mmmmmm mac and cheese!!

Life is wonderful for me . . . hope it is for you too :) (((HUGS)))

Joann @ The Italian Next Door said...

Hi Gina, What a great little Italian twist to mac and cheese....Sage ! Looks yummy! Just started a blog last month called The Italian Next Door. Would love to have you visit and leave a comment. I love connecting up with other people that have the same love for their Italian roots.

Gina Alfani said...

Thank you Joann! Will be visiting :)

Thanks for your comment!

Renee said...

Just Pinned this, looks super yummy! Saw on Twitter & have to try this. Truly a mac 'n cheese for us big kids.

Gina Alfani said...

Oh yeah Renee!! You can't get much better than mac 'n loads of cheese :) It is one of those meals I never get tired of!

Thanks for visiting and commenting!!

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