{"id":344,"date":"2012-09-09T20:36:42","date_gmt":"2012-09-10T02:36:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.zucchinibaby.com\/?page_id=344"},"modified":"2021-02-13T09:30:00","modified_gmt":"2021-02-13T16:30:00","slug":"fancy-macaroni-cheese","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.zucchinibaby.com\/?page_id=344","title":{"rendered":"(Fancy) Macaroni & Cheese"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

(Fancy) Macaroni & Cheese<\/p>\n

16 oz package elbow macaroni, cooked according to package directions
\n1 tbs olive oil
\n1 lb pancetta
\n1 large leek
\n4 garlic cloves
\n4 tbs unsalted butter
\n1\/2 cup unbleached all purpose flour
\n5 cups 2% milk
\n1 tsp salt
\n1 tsp pepper
\n2 pinches freshly ground nutmeg
\n8 oz sharp white cheddar cheese, shredded
\n8 oz smoked gruyere cheese, shredded
\n4 oz parmesan cheese, shredded
\n1 cup plain breadcrumbs<\/p>\n

Preheat the oven to 375.  Heat the olive oil in a large saute pan over medium heat.  Cube the pancetta and add it to the hot saute pan.  Cook until the pancetta renders most of its fat, about 5 to 10 minutes.  Remove the pancetta onto a plate lined in a paper towel to catch the fat.  Dice the white and light green parts of the leek and wash well (I use my salad spinner to soak it and then spin off the water).  Add the leeks to the olive oil\/ pancetta fat and cook over medium heat until the leeks are translucent, about 5 minutes.  Mince the garlic cloves and add to the leeks.  Cook for another minute.  Transfer the leek and garlic mixture to a food processor and pulse a few times.  You want a chunky puree.  Add the butter to the saute pan.  Once the butter melts, add the flour and whisk well to incorporate.  Cook the butter and flour over medium heat for 3 to 4 minutes, stirring frequently.  While that cooks, put the milk in a microwave safe bowl and heat it in the microwave for a few minutes.  You want to warm the milk, not boil or scald.  If it starts getting too hot, pull it out of the microwave.  Slowly add the warm milk to the butter\/ flour mixture, whisking well.  Add the salt, pepper, and nutmeg.  Continue cooking over medium heat until the mixture thickens.  Once it is thick enough to coat a wooden spoon, add the cheeses.  Whisk vigorously to combine.  Once the cheese melts, add the leek and garlic puree to the sauce.  Taste for any additional salt and pepper.  Add the cheese sauce and pancetta to the cooked elbow macaroni and mix well.  Pour the mixture into a greased glass casserole dish and top with the breadcrumbs.  Bake it until the breadcrumbs are golden brown and the cheese is bubbly, about 45 minutes.  Let stand for 5 minutes before serving.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(Fancy) Macaroni & Cheese 16 oz package elbow macaroni, cooked according to package directions 1 tbs olive oil 1 lb pancetta 1 large leek 4 garlic cloves 4 tbs unsalted butter 1\/2 cup unbleached all purpose flour 5 cups 2% milk 1 tsp salt 1 tsp pepper 2 pinches freshly ground nutmeg 8 oz sharp …Continue reading<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":195,"menu_order":2,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":[],"tags":[23],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.zucchinibaby.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/344"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.zucchinibaby.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.zucchinibaby.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.zucchinibaby.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.zucchinibaby.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=344"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.zucchinibaby.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/344\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":600,"href":"https:\/\/www.zucchinibaby.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/344\/revisions\/600"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.zucchinibaby.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/195"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.zucchinibaby.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=344"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.zucchinibaby.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=344"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}