This started as a fairly simple crab meat mac and cheese before I turned it into some grotesque decadence. After various tinkerings I’ve brought it back to something that, while not exactly basic, isn’t too outlandish.
Seafood Mac and Cheese
Sometimes you want the indulgence of a good mac and cheese. This is a good mac and cheese with an upgrade.
Persons
5
Serving Size
1 Portion
Prep Time
20 minutes
Cook Time
45 minutes
Total Time
1 hour, 5 minutes
Ingredients
- 200g dried macaroni pasta.
- 15g butter
- 2 Teaspoons of cayenne pepper
- 1 Teaspoon of smoked paprika
- 2 Tablespoons of plain flour
- 150g Gruyere cheese, grated
- 100g Cheddar cheese, grated
- 250-450ml semi-skimmed milk
- 100g crab meat
- 100g prawn/shrimp
- Cheese Breadcrumbs
- 5g butter
- 25g Gruyere Cheese
- 50g bread suited for breadcrumbs
Instructions
- Cook the pasta until it is al dente then drain and let aside until step 7.
- Preheat oven to 220 c/gas mark 7
- Place butter into a pan and heat over a low heat, once melted add the paprika and cayenne pepper and allow to cook for around 30 seconds before adding the plain flour and stirring into a paste.
- Slowly add milk to the paste, stirring continuously. Treat it like a risotto, a little often rather than one big glug. Once it it has a thickish consistency (clings to the spoon and drips lazily off) it is ready.
- Correction. It would be ready if we were going to leave out the best bit...the cheese! So, go ahead and add a bit more milk to make the sauce a little thinner than it currently is.
- Add the grated cheese, stirring until it melts
- Stir in a teaspoon of Dijon mustard and a generous grind of black pepper.
- Add the pasta from step 1. into the pan and mix well.
- Half fill a casserole dish with cheesy pasta.
- Add crab and prawn mix to the remaining pasta and combine well.
- Use seafood pasta mix to top off pasta already in casserole dish.
- Add Cheese Breadcrumbs (see below)
- Cook in middle of oven for 30 minutes or until topping crispy
Cheese Breadcrumbs
- Blitz everything in a processor until breadcrumb consistency.
Notes
I tend to season the crab meat and prawn mix with a mix of spices and a squeeze of lemon or lime juice for an hour or two prior to cooking.
You can easily skip the crab and prawn. The mac and cheese is great as it is.
Instead of seafood you could try 4-6 different styles of mushroom
Nutrition Facts
Seafood Mac and Cheese
Serves: 5 portions
|
Amount Per Serving: 1 Portion
|
||
|---|---|---|
| Calories | 533.25 kcal | |
| % Daily Value* | ||
| Total Fat 25.53 g | 39.3% | |
| Saturated Fat 14.28 g | 71.4% | |
| Trans Fat 0.37 g | ||
| Cholesterol 74.72 mg | 24.9% | |
| Sodium 559.53 mg | 23.3% | |
| Total Carbohydrate 49.57 g | 16.5% | |
| Dietary Fiber 2.56 g | 10.2% | |
| Sugars 6.26 g | ||
| Protein 25.69 g | ||
| Vitamin A 26.04 % | Vitamin C 0.62 % | |
| Calcium 61.87 % | Iron 9.81 % | |
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.
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Seafood Mac and Cheese