This past Sunday we reveled in the glorious weather: cool, grey, breezy, and a fine mist in the air. It made me want to race into the kitchen and whip up something soul satisfying (translated this means chock-full of calories). Something really wicked like mac and cheese, for example, which is exactly what my honey requested. Sadly, it was a Patriot’s bye week, which meant we didn’t have Gronkowski to entertain us in the end zone, so we needed oodles of carbs to drown our sorrows.

This recipe is a modified version of a Wall Street Journal piece (by Nancy Harmon Jenkins) that Roger spotted, drooled over, and saved for me. Because we don’t splurge too much these days, I went whole hog (no pun intended) and added bacon. We agreed that it was a fantastic addition.

Make sure you have a willing and able-bodied dishwasher around, because this recipe produces more than a few. Here’s what you’ll need –

5 cups whole milk

1 med. onion, cut in half

1 leek, split, cleaned, and cut in 2” chunks

3 bay leaves

1 tsp. whole black peppercorns

2 cloves of garlic

4 fresh thyme sprigs

2 med. celery stalks, cut in 4” pieces

4 tbsp. minced flat leaf parsley

4 tbsp. unsalted butter

¼ cup unbleached flour

¼ cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano

Sea salt and freshly ground pepper

1/4 tsp. Freshly grated nutmeg

1 tbsp. Dijon mustard

2 cups grated sharp cheddar

2 cups grated bacon cheddar cheese (Optional. I bought this at Trader Joe’s. If you wish, you could just go with 4 cups of grated sharp shedder)

8 oz. fresh mozzarella cut into cubes

5 slices of crisp bacon (I used uncured applewood smoked), chopped

2 tbsp. unsalted butter

1 tbsp. EVOO

2 ½ cups stale breadcrumbs (leave breadcrumbs out on a sheet pan for a few hours)

1 pound of elbows or short, curly pasta

Combine the milk, onion, leek, bay leaves, peppercorns, garlic, thyme, celery, and parsley in a saucepan. Set over medium heat and bring just to a simmer, then remove from heat, cover and set aside for at least 1 hour. When the milk has absorbed the flavors, strain out aromatics. Turn off heat, but keep the milk warm (use a lid) while you make the sauce.

Next you make the béchamel sauce. In a separate large saucepan, melt butter and add flour, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon and smoothing out lumps. Cook, stirring, until you no longer smell the odor of raw flour. This mixture is called a roux, and I cook it until it’s golden brown (see photo above).

Add warm milk, about ½ cup at a time, stirring (with a wire whisk) after each addition to thoroughly combine. Add a pinch of salt and nutmeg. Continue cooking on medium, stirring, until sauce is as thick as heavy cream.

Remove from heat and stir in mustard, parsley, bacon, and 31/2 cups grated cheese. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Return mixture to low heat and stir until cheeses melt.

While making your sauce, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook pasta in the water until just shy of al dente.

Melt 2 tbsp. of butter and toss in the breadcrumbs with remaining 1 tbsp. of EVOO until well coated.

Drain the pasta and add to the béchamel-cheese sauce. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Add the cubed mozzarella and mix.

Pour into the bottom of a greased oven dish.

Top with breadcrumbs and sprinkle the ½ cup of remaining cheese and Parmesan on top.

Bake until the top is golden and the sauce is bubbling around the edges.

Enjoy!

Eat well

April

“Some people think football is a matter of life and death. I assure you, it’s much more serious than that.” – Bill Shankly