Oven baked

The moment I pulled these baking dishes from the kiln I knew they were destined for melty-cheesy-deliciousness. I found a great Mac and Cheese recipe from Bon Appetite that I adapted to our flavor preferences. The thyme was switched to rosemary and the bolder cheeses replaced with milder varieties making this dish an easy crowd pleaser. 

These Suite One Studio oven-to-table baking dishes made presentation a breeze. A few scattered sprigs on top of each dish and this simple recipe gave the illusion of a very laborious dish, when in fact it was a deceptively easy recipe. And who doesn't need a cheesy, crowd pleasing, simple to make, beautiful to serve, oven-to-table-ready recipe? 

I tend to do a million other things while I'm cooking so from start to finish this recipe took me about 90 minutes. But, the active time is much, much less. I'd say a less distracted person could easily have this meal on the table and ready to serve in about 45 minutes. Ready, set, go!

Ingredients:

1 cup grated parmesan cheese
1 1/2 cups grated colby jack cheese
2 cups grated sharp cheddar cheese
5 tbsp butter, divided
1/4 cup all purpose flour
2 teaspoons chopped fresh rosemary
3/4 tsp cinnamon
4 cups whole milk
2 cups fresh breadcrumbs made from a French baguette
1 pound penne pasta

Preparation:

. Mix all cheeses. Set aside 1 cup to use later to top each serving; cover and chill.
. Melt 4 tablespoons butter in large saucepan over medium heat.
. Add flour and stir until mixture turns golden brown. (Original recipe says this is about 4 minutes, but it took nearly twice that for me. So just keep a watchful eye as you stir. The color will noticeably change to a warm golden brown.)
. Add rosemary and cinnamon.
. Gradually whisk in milk. Simmer until the mixture has thickened and is a smooth consistency. Stir frequently. (Original recipe says the mixture will thicken by about 4 minutes. Again, this took considerably longer. To the point that I began to worry... but it did thicken up after about 15 minutes.)
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. Melt 1 tablespoon butter in a skillet over medium heat. 
. While the butter heats add pieces of the French baguette to a food processor and process until the bread looks like.. well, breadcrumbs. That is small, even crumb sized pieces.
. Add the breadcrumbs to the melted butter in the skillet and toss. Stir until golden, about 2 minutes. (Season the breadcrumbs if preferred. I used a small sprinkling of a salt and pepper mixture and a few dried spices, sparingly.) Transfer to a plate.
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. Preheat oven to 375°F.
. Cook pasta in boiling salted water. (Cook until tender but still firm to bite.)
. Drain and transfer to a very large bowl.
. Pour cheese sauce over pasta and toss.
. Divide the pasta for baking as preferred. (I split the entire batch between two glass baking dishes. The recipe should fill about 8 custard cups, or 6 Suite One Studio small baking dishes.)
. Sprinkle the divided portions with the chilled cheese that was previously set aside. 
. Top with breadcrumbs.
. Bake until the tops are golden and the cheese is bubbling, about 20 minutes.

Enjoy! 

Adapted from Bon Appetite's Cheesemonger's Mac and Cheese.

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