Food & Drinks

RECIPE: FRENCH ONION MAC ‘N’ CHEESE

French mac and cheese

Say wine, snacks or haute cuisine and the gourmands at online food magazine FavorFlav know where to drink, how to eat it and what to cook. This time our cheffies serve you: recipe: French onion mac ‘n’ cheese.

We often sing the praises of mac ’n’ cheese and even in these difficult times, it remains one of the ultimate comfort food dishes? Like this, with your legs pulled up on the couch, a enormous glass of wine within reach, fire on, while you eat that deliciously stringy warm cheese macaroni straight from the baking dish and the pasta does its comforting work… And in this case, also with an insane umami addition:

INGREDIENTS
75 g butter, plus for greasing
3 yellow onions, sliced into thin half rings
salt
200 g macaroni
2 tbsp (20 g) flour
500 ml whole milk
125 g Fontina cheese, grated
300 g Gruyère, grated
125 g cheddar, grated
1 generous tsp Dijon mustard
pinch of cayenne pepper
fresh thyme, stripped from a few sprigs

Requirements
4 ramekins (soufflé dishes) of ø 12 cm, or 6 of ø 10 cm

Mac ’n’ cheese-variations; we can’t get enough of them and when we came across this one, we immediately saw how well that French onion twist could turn out. Not that those onions end up in the well-known soup, but that unparalleled deliciousness of very slowly cooked and caramelized onion, creating depth and an incredible flavor; that’s what our standard version was missing. Take your time (because you might have it now?) with those onions, and you’ll get the best result.

Here’s how to make French onion mac ’n’ cheese

  • Preheat the oven to 180 degrees.
  • Grease the ramekins with butter. (If you don’t have small dishes, just use one larger baking dish.)
  • Heat 50 grams of butter in a sauté pan (or deep frying pan) with a heavy bottom over medium heat.
  • Add the onions and a teaspoon of salt and cook, stirring occasionally, until they are dark golden brown.
  • This takes about 30 minutes on average. Feel free to enjoy a glass of wine with it.
  • Cook the pasta in plenty of salted water until al dente according to the package instructions. Drain.
  • Place a large pot (where the cooked pasta will also fit) over medium heat with the rest of the butter in it.
  • Add the flour and stir with a whisk, heating for 1 minute.
  • Slowly add the milk while stirring and mix until smooth.
  • Bring to a boil and lower the heat slightly (but not to its lowest).
  • Let it simmer for about 6 minutes until the sauce thickens.
  • Add the Fontina and cheddar, and half of the Gruyère.
  • Stir until all the cheese has melted and turn off the heat.
  • Stir in the pasta, onions, mustard, cayenne pepper, and thyme (set a few leaves aside) and season with salt and pepper.
  • Divide the mixture among the ramekins and sprinkle the rest of the Gruyère on top.
  • Place the dishes on a baking sheet.
  • Put in the oven and bake until the cheese starts to bubble along the edges, about 20 minutes.
  • Turn on the grill for a moment (about 2 minutes) until the cheese on top starts to turn golden brown.
  • Sprinkle the last leaves of thyme over it and serve.

Source + image: Delish