Baked Mac n Cheese with Broccoli Pesto

A Jerry James Stone Recipe

Categories

Green, Yellow

Ingredients
  

  • 1 pound fusilli pasta, cooked as instructed
  • 1 cup shredded Gruyère
  • ½ cup shredded Cheddar
  • ¾ cup shredded Parmesan
  • 2 tablespoons butter
  • 2 tablespoons flour
  • 2 cups milk
  • ¼ cup bread crumbs
  • 1 stalk of broccoli
  • 3 tablespoons olive oil
  • ½ cup chopped pine nuts
  • 1 tablespoon lemon zest
  • 1 minced garlic clove
Jump to instructions
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Total Time 45 minutes

Instructions

  • Cut off the broccoli florets of 1 broccoli stalk and peel the stalk, cutting the stalk into 1/2″ pieces.
  • Add broccoli to the food processor and finely chop it, then transfer to a large mixing bowl.
  • Lightly fold in 1/2 cup of pine nuts, chopped finely, 1 clove of garlic,minced, 1 tablespoon of lemon zest and 1/4 cup of parmesan cheese. Add 3 tablespoons of olive oil, more if needed.
  • Bring 4 quarts of water to a boil along with 1 table spoon of salt. Add 1 pound of fusilli and cook until al dente, about nine minutes for most pastas. FACT: In 1937, Kraft was the first to sell boxed macaroni and cheese, and it became an instant hit. They sold 9 million boxes that year! You can learn more fun facts about mac and cheese here.
  • Create a roux by warming the 2 tablespoons of butter in a large skillet and adding 2 tablespoons of flour. Whisk well until all of the flour is incorporated.
  • Slowly add in 2 cups of milk. Once the flour, butter and milk have combined, add 1 cup of shredded Gruyere cheese, 1/2 cup of shredded cheddar cheese and 3/4 cup of Parmesan cheese .
  • At this point, the sauce should be fairly thick. If you wish for it to be thicker, bring the cheese sauce to a slight boil and then remove it from the heat. If you want to thin it out a bit, add more milk. But do it sloooowly.
  • In a large mixing bowl, toss the cooked fusilli with the cheese sauce then transfer it to a baking dish.
  • Place heaping tablespoons of the broccoli pesto throughout the cheesy pasta.
  • Top with 1/4 cup of bread crumbs and the remaining shredded cheeses. Oh, I want to add that when I photographed this recipe I did not make enough cheese sauce. Oops! Don’t worry, the recipe below has been adjusted and it is much cheesier than shown.
  • Bake at 350 degrees F for about 20 minutes, until the cheese sauce begins to boil and the topping is golden. Enjoy!