broccoli mac & cheese

hearty comfort food

This recipe is dedicated to my brother, Jiash.  The first time I made mac and cheese was with him and it was pretty hilarious. I thought I could do it without following a recipe and I proceeded to instruct him on what to do.  I didn't bother to grate the cheese and we ended up with a huge lump in a pool of skim milk and butter.  In the end it was actually quite tasty, but maybe not the most attractive dish.  I've since modified my recipe and this one includes broccoli for some green goodness.

what you need:

• 1 small broccoli
• 3 large shallots
• 3 large garlic cloves
• 2 cups freshly grated extra old cheddar
• 1 cup freshly grated mozzarella
• 400 g dry macaroni pasta
• 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
• a small pinch of nutmeg
• 1 tsp red chili flakes
• salt and pepper
• 1/2 cup breadcrumbs
• 1/3 cup grated Parmesan 
• 2 tbsp unsalted butter
• 2 tbsp flour
• 1 1/2 cup 1% milk

what to do:

1. Prep everything you need: clean broccoli and trim rough parts off stems.  Finely chop stems, set aside.  Roughly chop up florets and set aside in a separate bowl.  Finely chop garlic and shallots.  Grate cheeses.  Mix grated Parmesan with breadcrumbs.  Preheat oven to 425 degrees F and start a pot of water to boil pasta in.
2. In the meantime, heat up 1 tbsp of canola oil in a large non-stick pan.  Add shallots and broccoli stems, saute for about 2 minutes then add garlic and broccoli florets.  Season with pepper, salt, and red chili flakes.  Saute for another 2-3 minutes, then remove broccoli and set aside in a bowl.  
3. Put a generous amount of salt in the boiling water and add pasta.  Should take about 8 minutes or so to cook to al dente.
4. In the same non-stick pan on medium, heat up butter and then whisk in flour and keep stirring, making a roue.  Heat milk in microwave for 1 minute.  After about 3 minutes, slowly add milk, continuing to stir to avoid lumps.  Turn off the heat and add cheddar and mozzarella, stirring to incorporate.  Season with nutmeg, Worcestershire, salt and pepper.
5. Drain pasta when al dente, reserving about 1 cup of pasta cooking water.  Fold pasta with cheesy mixture, and add in the broccoli.  Add a small amount of pasta cooking water to loosen the sauce, if it appears too dry.
6. Pour pasta into a buttered baking dish.  Top with breadcrumb mixture and bake in oven for 12 minutes.  For the last 2 minutes, turn the oven to broil to brown the top (keep a close eye to avoid burning).  Serve hot and enjoy!

served up in a bowl, hot and gooey

so...this was that first time (years ago!)
 the cheese that couldn't quite melt. haha