Melt’s 3 Cheese Macaroni and Cheese with Broccoli and Sweet Pugliese

I wrote previously about how I attended a book release party at Cheese Bar for Melt: The Art of Macaroni and Cheese. This recipe for 3 Cheese Macaroni and Cheese with Broccoli and Sweet Pugliese is the first recipe I’ve blogged about from the book, though I’ve actually made a couple others already. Well, let’s say this is one I changed the least so thought I could more fairly share.

Book cover for Melt: the Art of Macaroni & Cheese cookbook

One of my favorite recipes from the book is one I barely even follow but use as a guideline: a recipe with Raclette with Farfalle, Cornichons, and Sauteed Onions. I ended up using Farfalle or Bow Tie, and switched out the Raclette for whatever cheese I have available, but throwing in that sweetness from sauteed onions or leeks, and then little cut up cornichons for a bit of acid has been a revelation of a different kind of flavor to mac and cheese.

F looked at me weirdly when he saw me chopping the cornichons (I have also used mini sweet pickles), but it totally makes sense. You often see cornichons on a cheese plate- of course it would work with mac and cheese!

Now, this recipe for 3 Cheese Macaroni and Cheese with Broccoli and Sweet Pugliese also originally had pancetta. However, I don’t think there is anything even remotely vegetarian that I can substitute for pancetta, so I simply omitted it.

Instead, I upped the broccoli by a little bit, and added a little bit of olive oil since I didn’t have leftover pancetta frying grease. Instead of chives, I sprinkled some red pepper flakes just for a little hint of heat. I also served this with a side of honey mustard chicken for those who can eat meat (you can use Chik’n for a non meat version- the sauce if vegetarian).

The usage of a sweet pugliese or whatever crusty bread on top really makes for an interesting texture with the mac and cheese and the broccoli makes it healthy, right?

Recipe adapted from Melt, 3 Cheese Macaroni and Cheese with Broccoli and Sweet Pugliese, vegetarian and mac and cheese comforting goodness

Ingredients:

  • 12 ounces elbow macaroni
  • I omitted this because I wanted it to be vegetarian, but also 1/2 pound/1 cup of thick-cut pancetta, chopped coarsely and fried until crispy. Don’t throw out the fat, you can use it in the recipe! If you are being vegetarian like I was, just use 1/4 cup of olive oil.
  • 2 1/2 cups milk – I used 2% milk
  • 2 tablespoons butter
  • 2 tablespoons flour
  • 1 teaspoon sea salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • 6 ounces aged Cheddar, grated. The book recommends Pineland six-month aged Cheddar, and I happen to use Tillamook Aged Cheddar. The cookbook notes you can use any medium-sharp Cheddar.
  • 4 ounces of grated Monterey Jack
  • 4 ounces low-moisture mozzarella, chopped coarsely- I just used some shredded mozzarella that’s extra from making pizza
  • 2 cups broccoli florets- each floret should be chopped to be about 1-inch in size. The original recipe called for 1 1/2 but I wanted more broccoli since I omitted the pancetta to be vegetarian
  • 2 cups coarsely torn sweet Pugliese bread or other crusty bread of your choice – I cut/tore them so they were cubes of about 1 1/2 inches
  • 1/4 cup chopped fresh chives – but instead I used 1 teaspoon of red pepper flakes, again because I wanted a bit more flavor pop since I was omitting the pancetta to be vegetarian

Ingredients for the Melt recipe of 3 cheese macaroni and cheese casserole w broccoli and sweet pugliese topping

Directions:

  1. Cook the pasta in a pot of salted boiling water until al dente. Drain, mix in with 1/4 cup of olive oil OR the cooked crispy pancetta/pancetta oil and stir to coat the pasta so they don’t stick together. Place in a greased 13×9 casserole dish.
  2. With the salted boiling water post-pasta, I steamed the broccoli a little bit to soften it. If you are using frozen broccoli florets you can omit this step and just let the broccoli come to room temperature.
  3. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
  4. To make your cheese sauce, start by heating the milk in a small saucepan over medium heat. As soon as the milk starts to steam and there are small bubbles around the edges – in other words no need to boil it, you are just heating it- turn off the heat.
  5. As soon as the milk is heated, in a medium saucepan melt the butter over medium heat. Once the butter is just melted, stir in the flour and mix until it takes on a light brown color in a few minutes, make sure you keep scraping (I used a silicon spatula) to prevent burning. Slowly add the warmed milk, stirring constantly to prevent burning, for a few minutes. When you dip a spoon in the sauce in progress and lift the spoon out, turn to the back and draw a line with your finger- the sauce should not break that line you drew once it has successfully thickened. Remove from heat and add salt and pepper once you reach this point.
  6. In small handfuls, add all of the cheeses- the cheddar, Monterey Jack, and Mozzarella, and keep stirring until all the cheeses are completely melted and incorporated into the sauce.
  7. In the casserole dish that has your pasta, mix in the broccoli and the sauce. Fold everything together. On top, spread the torn sweet Pugliese bread
    Mac and Cheese Masterpiece: the Melt recipe of 3 cheese macaroni and cheese casserole w broccoli and sweet pugliese topping Mac and Cheese Masterpiece: the Melt recipe of 3 cheese macaroni and cheese casserole w broccoli and sweet pugliese topping Mac and Cheese Masterpiece: the Melt recipe of 3 cheese macaroni and cheese casserole w broccoli and sweet pugliese topping
  8. Bake for 30 minutes or so until the bread browns and the cheese is bubbling. Remove from oven and let cool for 10 minutes so you don’t burn your tongue and can enjoy all flavors of this dish. If you’d like, sprinkle generously with chopped fresh chives- in my case I added more freshly ground pepper and my teaspoon of red pepper flakes.

Recipe adapted from Melt, 3 Cheese Macaroni and Cheese with Broccoli and Sweet Pugliese, vegetarian and mac and cheese comforting goodness Recipe adapted from Melt, 3 Cheese Macaroni and Cheese with Broccoli and Sweet Pugliese, vegetarian and mac and cheese comforting goodness

And here it is at the end, all gooey and warm. It should be able to serve 4-6.
Recipe adapted from Melt, 3 Cheese Macaroni and Cheese with Broccoli and Sweet Pugliese, vegetarian and mac and cheese comforting goodness

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Melt: the Art of Macaroni & Cheese – Portland Release Party

I was super thrilled when Tiffany from Thyme of Taste shared that there was a special event for Melt: The Art of Macaroni & Cheese occurring at Steve Jones’ Cheese Bar. First of all, I love cheese, and I will take any excuse/rationalization necessary to go to cheese.

Book cover for Melt: the Art of Macaroni & Cheese cookbook

I also love Steve Jones, as I have enjoyed all the cheese education he has been imparting on me since the best cheese extravaganza I have ever experienced, his Cheese Bar Spectacular with Ten 01 back in 2010 with its 101 cheeses. That was a one time event, my first time meeting Steve, and was an important jumpstart of my cheese knowledge as it really upped my familiarity with local cheeses. Thankfully, there are still Steve’s annual pairing of beers and cheese (recaps of Portland Beer & Cheese Fest 2012 and Portland Beer & Cheese Fest 2013 as examples, and has done events with Lardo and Raven & Rose, among others). He also helps curate cheese plates for so many of the amazing restaurants in Portland.

Steve Jones of Cheese Bar offering cheeses and charcuterie at Bailey's Taproom- 2007-2012 5th Anniversary Gloriousness

Cheese plates are a great way to try lots of cheeses affordably, rather than buying them by weight $7-10 at a time – instead, you have the opportunity to taste several cheeses for the same price. You can never go wrong with a cheese plate curated with Steve’s Cheese- such as this one below of 11/17/2013, a Cheese Board of Remeker Pure Borenkaas (Raw Cow – Holland), Gran Cacio Etrusco (Sheep – Italy), and the Crottin (Goat – France). This was my first crottin! I’m a big fan of Borenkaas as they go wonderfully with beer with its nuttiness- this is true of most Dutch cheeses I think. The sheep cheese went best with the chutney you see on the board, and the Crottin’s grassiness was balanced out by the glass of red wine I was having.

11/17/2013 Steve's Cheese Bar Cheese Board: Remeker Pure Borenkaas (Raw Cow - Holland), Gran Cacio Etrusco (Sheep - Italy), and the Crottin (Goat - France) 11/17/2013 Steve's Cheese Bar Cheese Board: Remeker Pure Borenkaas (Raw Cow - Holland), Gran Cacio Etrusco (Sheep - Italy), and the Crottin (Goat - France) 11/17/2013 Steve's Cheese Bar Cheese Board: Focusing in on the Gran Cacio Etrusco (Sheep - Italy), and the Crottin (Goat - France)

If you want to appreciate cheese more, the key thing I would suggest you do is keep notes of what cheeses you had- particularly ones that you really love, or really hate. This will help you understand your tastes. An easy way to do this is to just have one document on your phone/cloud that you can use to make your notations. I often take photos of the cheese and the label if I’m dining out so that I don’t have to spend a lot of time typing into my phone instead of socializing. BTW this same trick works with wine!

The Cheese Bar is Steve’s place, a great cheese shop where you can procure marvelous exquisite cheeses from around the world, plus get access to the genius award winning knowledge of cheesemonger Steve or whoever is behind the counter to help select cheeses (and often sample as well to help make decisions!). But you don’t have to just subsist on the samples of cheese alone. Cheese Bar is also a beer/wine bar and cafe, offering multiple types of cheese plates (a cheese plate of the day, soft ripened cheese plate, blue cheese plate, etc) as well as other small plates of food varying from pimento spread to grilled cheese or fondue in order for you to try lots of kinds of cheeses.

Even more enthralling for this last visit for me however was the fact that Stephanie Stiavetti of the Culinary Life blog was hosting the Portland launch party for the book Melt: The Art of Macaroni & Cheese (co authored with Garrett McCord of food blog, Vanilla Garlic) at Cheese Bar. At the book launch party, she was offering two examples of the mac dishes from the cookbook! Amazon link: http://bit.ly/meltmacaroni. And this was a free public event!

PS. Stephanie has cut her hair and is even more adorable than the photo below. Check out her Facebook or Google+ for more updates and photos from the tour.
Stephanie Stiavetti of the Culinary Life blog, one of the authors of Melt: the Art of Macaroni & Cheese Garrett McCord of food blog, Vanilla Garlic, one of the authors of Melt: the Art of Macaroni & Cheese

I was so there!

The first sample was a cold pasta salad of Drunken Goat with Edamame, Fennel, and Rotini. I was surprised how fresh and salady with herbaciousness this take on mac and cheese was, with only the cubes of Drunken Goat cheese and a light lemony oil dressing.
Melt: the Art of Macaroni & Cheese recipe, a cold pasta salad of Drunken Goat with Edamame, Fennel, and Rotini

The second sample she offered was the Lincolnshire Poacher with Cotija, Chorizo and Penne. Of course she used real chorizo meat, but based on the flavor profile I think Soyrizo would work just as well- they key is the grassy contribution of the Lincolnshire Poacher cheese with the salty crumble of the Cotija.
Melt: the Art of Macaroni & Cheese recipe, Lincolnshire Poacher with Cotija, Chorizo and Penne

Although that sounds so specific to pick out Lincolnshire Poacher or the Drunken Goat as the cheese to utilize, the book does suggest several other alternate cheeses that can be substituted in, and she’s great at pointing out the specific flavors of the cheese she was looking for, so you can also chat with your local cheesemonger.

The key differentiator here for me is that Stephanie and Garrett really focused on highlighting the unique exquisite flavors of high quality artisan cheeses, and they prepare them in a large variety of kinds of dishes to really expand the what you can do with these cheeses besides enjoying them on a cheese plate. Though, nothing wrong with a cheese plate of course, brimming with multiple cheeses.  🙂

The recipes really run the gamut, from salad to stovetop baked and casserole to dessert, and also bring in influences of flavor profiles internationally, such as Greek, Mexican, Indian, and even Asian! That’s what really drew me to the book- even though the book title starts out with “Melt”, it’ s not always about throwing in cheese and cream over pasta into the oven. The recipes are a lot more diverse than that so that you could possibly be making more than one of these dishes in a week without feeling like it’s a repeat, since the recipes can be so unique in taste.

Some examples that I am so so excited to make:

  • Pumpkin stuffed with sausage and fontina recipe,
  • Raclette with Farfalle, Cornichons, and Sauteed Onions
  • Turkey and Robusto Mac and Cheeselet (perfect after Thanksgiving as a way to use up some leftover turkey!!)
  • Chicken Breast Stuffed with Leonora Goat Cheese, Star Pasta, and Gingersnap

Pumpkin stuffed with sausage and fontina recipe from Melt: the Art of Macaroni & Cheese Raclette with Farfalle, Cornichons, and Sauteed Onions recipe from Melt: the Art of Macaroni & Cheese
Turkey and Robusto Mac and Cheeselet (perfect after Thanksgiving as a way to use up some leftover turkey!!) recipe from Melt: the Art of Macaroni & Cheese Chicken Breast Stuffed with Leonora Goat Cheese, Star Pasta, and Gingersnap from Melt: the Art of Macaroni & Cheese
Photo Credit: Matt Armendariz, courtesy of Little, Brown and Company

Each recipe also suggest wine pairings, as well as other snacky pairings with the cheese (such as certain fruit) in case you are assembling a cheese plate or perhaps brainstorming another recipe. The book, which has about 75 recipes, is chock full of gorgeous, enticing photos that make you want to cook everything in the book. After only flipping through a few chapters I was already ready to throw out the Pumpkin Mac and Cheese recipe I had earmarked for Thanksgiving this year in order to try some of the recipes above.

Thankfully, wiser minds prevailed, and instead my friend and I discussed how we could just ADD another recipe for another day during our Thanksgiving vacation instead.

Also, maybe I bought 4 cheeses from Cheese Bar for the cheese plate on Thanksgiving Day. Until Thanksgiving early dinner is ready, a bottle of wine and a cheese tray and vegetable tray are the snacks to keep us fueled during our Thanksgiving meal is ready. I said I was going to buy 3, but I bought 4. This seems to always happen. I mean, it only added up to 1.25 pounds of cheese. For four people. And that’s only half the cheese plate.

I’ll report back on what I make from the Melt: the Art of Macaroni & Cheese cookbook, but meanwhile, here is a bit more on the book, including their cookbook trailer! I am SO RECOMMENDING THIS BOOK. And this is not a sponsored post- I just really love it!

Melt: the Art of Macaroni and Cheese – The Official Trailer from Stephanie/SJS on Vimeo.

MELT: THE ART OF MACARONI AND CHEESE is a cookbook that reinvents the American classic, macaroni and cheese, with gourmet ingredients, handcrafted artisan cheeses, and unique flavor combinations. It is the first book to marry the American standard, macaroni and cheese, with handcrafted artisan cheeses and a wide array of pastas, producing dishes that are both classic and chic.

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