When the best of the Great Northwest sea pairs with the best in Seattle’s cheeses, heavenly melty things happen like Lobster Macaroni and Cheese. Top with ground garlic-y croutons and butter for the cherry on top. Uh, well, you know what I mean.
Lobster Macaroni and Cheese
Preheat oven to 350°F.
- 3/4 cup unsalted butter (divided)
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 1/2 medium yellow onion, fine diced
- 6 cloves garlic, minced
- 4-6 lobster tails (optional – just leave them out if you want plain mac & cheese)
- 1 pound Collezione pasta (or your favorite pasta)
- 1 quart (or 32 ounces) whole milk
- 10 ounces Gruyere or Gouda cheese, grated
- 10 ounces high-quality white cheddar, grated
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 1 teaspoon coarse ground pepper
- Dash of fresh ground nutmeg (optional)
- 5 – 7-ounce bag of garlic croutons
Place 1/2 cup of the butter and olive oil in a large saucepan. Add onion and cook over medium heat until onions are golden brown. Add garlic and stir in flour. This is called a roux. Cook roux for a few minutes. This will give your sauce a nice color and cook the raw flour taste out of it. Whisk in milk, salt, pepper, and nutmeg if desired. Add cheese. Allow to cook while continuing to whisk for several minutes or until cheese has melted.
Fill a large pot with water and bring to a boil. Add pasta and cook for the lowest recommended time. For example, if the package says to cook it for 8-10 minutes, cook pasta for 8 minutes. Drain pasta and place in a 9X13 pan (or equivalent size).
Line a baking sheet with foil and place lobster tails on the foil. Cook in the oven until lobster tails are almost red in color you don’t need to worry too much about undercooking, because they will finish cooking while in the Mac & cheese.
Remove the lobster from the shells And place it in the 9X13 pan with the pasta.
Finally, pour cheese sauce over pasta and stir the pasta, cheese sauce, and lobster together.
Crush the croutons in a food processor or crush carefully by gently pounding in a bag with a rolling pin. Melt the last 1/4 cup of butter. Mix croutons with the melted butter. Sprinkle over the macaroni & cheese.
Bake for about 30 minutes or until mac & cheese is bubbling and croutons are a loverly golden brown.