Mac and Cheese with Purple Basil | my first take on the famous Mac and Cheese | Cast Iron Cooking
Wednesday, June 10, 2020
I personally don't understand the melting cheese obsession that much so I tried to give some flavour by using a lot of purple basil. I love this lovely herb in general and especially in pasta. It also goes so well with pasta salads.
Et voila, my first ever take on the infamous, high-calorie Mac and Cheese and -surprise surprise- I really like the result. I ate the whole thing!
I'll definitely work on this recipe and make it yummier but in the meantime, here is the delicious enough prototype!
ingredients
4 servings
1 litre boiling water
1 tsp salt
For the Béchamel Sauce
2 cloves of garlic, grated
4 tbsp butter
5 tbsp flour
1 litre milk
1 tsp black pepper, preferably white pepper
1 tsp paprika
2 cups grated cheddar cheese
1 cup grated whole fat white cheese
(more cheddar for later)
1/2 cup purple basil, thinly chopped
1/2 cup parsley, thinly chopped
For the Bread Crumbs
2 tbsp butter
1 big slice of stale bread
1 tsp cayenne pepper
Preferably a cast iron pot or skillet
Made the bread crumbs first. Put the butter into a skillet, let it melt.
Very thinly diced the bread slice into crumbs. Put the crumbs into the skillet and saute until brown. In the last minute, add in the cayenne pepper and take it off the heat, set aside.
Cook the pasta in the boiling salted water less than you normally do. I cooked them for only 5 minutes.
Take a cup of the pasta water and set aside for later. Strain the rest and set aside the pasta.
Start the bechamel sauce, put the butter into the pot and let it melt. Add the garlic and saute. Add the flour and saute until a little bit brown. Add the milk slowly while stirring vigorously. If there are any lumps, just use a hand blender to make it smooth and then continue cooking the sauce until it's boiling and thickened.
Add black pepper, salt, paprika and stir and take it off the heat.
Add the cheese and let it melt while stirring. You can add more or less cheese and any kind of melting cheese depending on your taste buds ^^ I used white whole fat cheese (cow's milk version) to give the pasta more flavour. It's a Turkish cheese. You can use mozzarella instead.
Add the herbs, pasta and the pasta water and start folding them into together. Taste it and if needed add more salt, more herbs or black pepper, butter. It all depends on what kind of cheese you used.
Sprinkle more grated cheddar cheese on top and sprinkle half of the bread crumbs on top as well. Set aside the other half for serving.
Put the pot into the oven with 200C Fan and bake it until the top layer is golden brown and until the cheese is bubbling. Approx. 15 - 20 minutes.
Serve a big spoonful as soon as it's out of the oven. Sprinkle the crumbs and more herbs on top.
Bon appetit,
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