America's Test Kitchen "Dish It Your Way" Challenge: Mac n' Cheese

I recently watched a show where French chef Christian Constant demonstrated his version of a pasta dish.  He stuffed cooked macaroni with paper thin truffles, cut the macaroni’s into rounds, placed them on the inside of a hollowed out eggshell, and then filled that with a scallop mousse.  Once cooked, he removed the shell and had something that looked like a Fabergé egg.  It was amazing, and like Michael Jordan doing a layup, he made it look easy.

While pondering what to do for the next round of America’s Test Kitchen “Dish It Your Way” challenge, Christophe turned to me said, “Do something like that!”

My response, “You’re nuts!”  I’ve never been good at basketball and have never been able to a layup to save my life.  There was no way I was going to try what a starred chef pulled out of his hat.  Not to mention, it was missing one key element: cheese.  Yes, that is how I got out of that one: cheese.

Scaling back a bit, I decided to something more family style, and I looked in the fridge for inspiration.  I found Roquefort cheese and smoked salmon, hence I decided upon:

Rigatoni with Roquefort Cream Sauce and Smoked Salmon

(I immediately nixed Christophe’s idea to stuff the Rigatoni with the salmon and cook them in a hallowed out egg.) 

I ran with this idea because I’m tired of being disappointed with a mac n’ cheese that is overcooked, swimming in a bland sauce, and lacking character.  More than anything, I was interested in taking a risk with flavor and ready to go a little off the deep end.

Ingredients:

1 pound Rigatoni pasta

4 Tablespoons butter

2 Tablespoons flour

2 cups whole milk

10 oz. Roquefort cheese, cut roughly into 10 cubes, plus additional for garnishing

8 oz. smoked salmon, cut into 1/8 inch matchsticks

½ cup bread crumbs

Salt and pepper

Bring 2 quarts of salted water to a boil over medium high heat.  Stir in one pound of Rigatoni pasta.  Cook for 8 minutes (or slightly under ‘al dente’; the pasta will continue to cook in the oven so an ‘undercooked pasta’ is desired at this state to avoid a mushy end product), and drain well.

While pasta is cooking, melt 4 tablespoons of butter in a medium size pot over medium high heat.  Allow the melted butter to foam; sprinkle flour over the top and allow it to rise and brown slightly.  Knock down the mixture by whisking briskly and continue until a smooth consistency is reached.  This will avoid unwanted flour clumps in the sauce.  Add milk, lower heat to medium –low and continue to whisk until a homogenous liquid is formed.   Stir in 9 cubes of the Roquefort cheese and continue stirring into melted.  Season with salt and pepper to taste, being cautious not to over salt since the cheese has a high salt content. Mix in pasta until well coated.

In four large ramekins or one 9x13 baking dish, layer sauce coated pasta and salmon, followed by a top layer of pasta again.  Sprinkle with breadcrumbs and crumble the remaining cube of Roquefort cheese on top.  Place in preheated 350F oven for 15 minutes.  Garnish with additional cheese and chives if desired.

I know Roquefort cheese and smoked salmon aren’t a typical combination, but risks are worth taking when something is to be gained.  In this case, the risk paid off.  I got a well cooked, not over cooked pasta, in a sauce “with character” with smoking, salty hints that brighten the dish.  Now, I think I’m ready to work on my free throws – I’ll get to that layup later.