Macaroni with Crab and Brie

By lynnieb93

Chunks of crab meat and brie cheese give this macaroni-and-cheese a grown-up spin.

Ingredients

• # Nonstick cooking spray
• # 1 medium sweet onion, halved and thinly sliced
• # 5 Tbsp. butter
• # 1 lb. dried medium shell pasta
• # 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• # 3/4 tsp. salt
• # 1/2 tsp. ground black pepper
• # 3 cups milk
• # 1 lb. Brie cheese, trimmed and chopped (reserve 8 small wedges for topping, if desired)
• # 2 6- to 6.5-oz. cans lump crabmeat, drained, flaked, and cartilage removed
• # 3 slices firm white bread, torn into large pieces

Details

Servings 8
Preparation time 15mins
Cooking time 45mins

Preparation

Step 1

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly coat eight 14-to 16-ounce individual baking dishes with cooking spray; set aside. In large skillet cook onion in butter over medium-low heat about 15 minutes or until tender and golden brown, stirring occasionally. Meanwhile, cook pasta in 4-quart Dutch oven according to package directions; drain and return to pan.

2. Add flour, salt, and pepper to onion in skillet; stir until combined, about 1 minute. Add milk all at once. Cook and stir until slightly thickened and bubbly. Gradually add chopped cheese; cook over medium-low heat until cheese melts. Stir into pasta. Fold in crab. Transfer to baking dishes.

3. Place bread pieces in food processor; cover and process to coarse crumbs. Sprinkle crumbs over pasta mixture. Bake, uncovered, 20 to 25 minutes or until heated through and crumbs are golden brown. If desired, add a wedge of Brie to each dish the last 5 minutes of baking time.