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Mushroom Macaroni and Cheese

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5 from 1 review

This mushroom macaroni and cheese is the ultimate comfort food dish.

Ingredients

Scale
  • 1 pound cavatappi pasta
  • 4 slices thick-cut bacon
  • 16 ounces cremini mushrooms, finely chopped
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt, divided
  • 1/4 cup dry white wine (I used Chardonnay)
  • 2 tablespoons flour
  • 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 2 cups 2% milk
  • 1/2 cup heavy cream
  • 16 ounces gruyere cheese, grated
  • 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Bring a pot of water to a boil and cook the pasta for approximately half the time as indicated on the box. Drain and return to the pot.
  2. In a large pan, cook the bacon over medium-low heat until it’s crispy and has released its fat. Remove the bacon, leaving the fat in the pan, and set aside. Adjust the heat to medium and add the mushrooms to the pan and stir them around to coat them in the bacon fat. Season them with a 1/2 teaspoon of salt and cook them for about 10-12 minutes, or until they are nicely golden brown and have released their moisture. Add the wine to the hot pan and, using a spatula or wooden spoon, scrape up all the browned bits off the bottom of the pan. Let the wine cook off and then transfer the mushrooms to a plate.
  3. In the same pan, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the flour and whisk until there are no lumps. Add the milk and cream, whisking continuously, and warm it slowly without letting it boil (lower the heat if necessary). Once the milk and cream are warmed through and the sauce has started to thicken, add the cheese (reserve 1 cup of cheese for the topping) and stir well until it’s completely melted into the sauce. Add the mushrooms and stir to combine.
  4. Add the pasta to the mushrooms and cheese sauce either by transferring the pasta from the pot to the skillet or, in case your skillet isn’t big enough to hold all the pasta, transfer the sauce to the pot with the pasta. Stir to coat the pasta in the sauce.  Transfer the pasta and cheese sauce to a  baking dish.
  5. Chop the crispy bacon and scatter it over the top of the macaroni and cheese. Sprinkle the remaining one cup of cheese over the top. Cover the dish with tin foil and bake at 375 degrees for 20 minutes. Remove the foil and bake another 10 minutes. Garnish with the fresh parsley and serve.

Nutrition

Find it online: https://www.girlgonegourmet.com/mushroom-macaroni-cheese/