Parmigiano Reggiano Macaroni & Cheese
This homemade baked macaroni and cheese recipe uses a Four Cheese Sauce for its rich cheesy flavor and can be assembled in advance and baked an hour before serving. Its flavor can be varied by using different cheeses, or by adding fresh herbs like thyme, parsley, basil, and chives to the sauce before mixing in the pasta. For this macaroni and cheese recipe use a short pasta like regular elbow macaroni, penne, rigatoni or ziti.
Ingredients
- 1 pound pasta
- 5 cups Four Cheese Sauce
- 1/4 cup fresh herbs such as thyme parsley, basil, or chives
- 4 tablespoons butter
- 2 garlic cloves crushed
- 2 cups fresh breadcrumbs
- 1/2 cup grated Parmigiano Reggiano
Instructions
- Heat the oven to 375°F.
- Cook the pasta in plenty of salted boiling water until al dente. In the meantime, heat the Four Cheese Sauce.
- When the pasta has cooked, drain it and mix with about 3/4 of the sauce. Make any herb or vegetable additions at this time.
- Grease a 13- by 9-inch casserole dish* with butter or olive oil. Put the pasta and sauce mixture in the dish, then pour the rest of the Four Cheese Sauce over the top.
- melt the butter in a small saucepan with the garlic cloves. Once the butter has completely melted, discard the garlic cloves. Remove the butter from the heat allow to cool for 5 - 10 minutes, until it is warm but not hot. Mix in the breadcrumbs and Parmigiano Reggiano.
- Sprinkle the breadcrumb mixture over the pasta and sauce. Bake for 40 minutes, until the cheese sauce is bubbling and the top is crunchy and golden. Let stand for 10 minutes before serving.
Notes
*Variation: Bake your macaroni and cheese in individual serving dishes and cut the baking time in half.
Adapted from Parmesan.com
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