City Hall Mac and Cheese

By GratefulSea

This is both a classic **and** grown up version of a favorite comfort food. I thought the sauce was a bit thin, so I added an extra handful of grated cheddar on top, just under the parsley, parmesan, and bread crumbs, and baked it for nearly 35 minutes. Perfect!

You'll see the recipe calls for cooking the pasta for 9 minutes. I used small elbow macaroni with instructions that said to cook for 5 minutes; I cooked it for 3 minutes, which turned out to be the right amount of time, given the extra cooking in the oven.

(Photo is my own.)

Ingredients

• Butter for pan
• 1 pound penne regate
• 2 cups heavy cream
• 2 cups whole milk
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• 2 cups (8 oz) grated cheddar cheese
• 1-1/3 cup (6 oz) grated Monterey Jack
• Kosher salt
• Freshly ground pepper
• 1/2 cup panko bread crumbs
• 2 teaspoons chopped fresh parsley
• 2 teaspoons grated Parmesan cheese

Details

Servings 6

Preparation

Step 1

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9x13-inch baking pan.

Bring 6-quarts of salted water to a full boil. Add the pasta and cook, stirring occasionally, until al dente, 9 to 10 minutes (reminder: I cooked small macaroni for 3 minutes). Drain.

Combine the cream, milk, cayenne, and nutmeg in a large saucepan over medium-high heat and reduce by half, about 15 minutes. Once the mixture starts to simmer, be sure to stir to break the layer of foam so that it will not boil over. Reduce the heat to medium-low, add the cheddar and jack cheeses, and whisk until well blended. Season with salt and pepper.

Add the penne and stir vigorously, taking care not to break the past-- this will release starch and help to thicken the sauce.

Pour or spoon the pasta into the baking dish. Combine the panko, parsley, and Parmesan and sprinkle over the pasta Bake until bubbly and golden, approximately 15 minutes. (I doubled the baking time.)