Lorraine Pascale Mac And Cheese Recipes

GLAM MAC AND CHEESE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Cook the pasta in a large pan of boiling salted water. It needs to be cooked to just less than al dente, as the pasta will be cooked again in the oven. Reserve 1 cup cooking water, then drain the pasta, return it to the pan and set aside.
• Fry the pancetta in a medium skillet over medium heat until it just starts to brown and crisp up, then add the thyme and scallions and cook for an additional 3 minutes. Add the skillet's contents to the pasta.
• For the sauce, put the butter, flour, nutmeg and mustard powder in a small saucepan set over medium heat and cook, stirring, until the butter has melted. Mix the milk and cream together in a pitcher and add a little to the flour and butter in the saucepan, stirring well. Keep adding the milk mixture bit by bit, stirring well each time (be sure to get into the "corners" of the pan, as flour often lurks there). Once the sauce has fully come together, turn up the heat and boil for a minute or two. The sauce will thicken considerably. Remove the pan from the heat.
• Add two-thirds of both of the cheeses to the sauce while it is still hot and combine well. (It may be a bit lumpy, but that is fine.) Season to taste with salt and pepper and add to the pasta mix. If the cheese sauce thickens too much, add some of the pasta water. Stir everything together and spoon into 4 large ramekins or a shallow 3-quart casserole dish.
• Sprinkle the top with the rest of the cheese and the breadcrumbs and bake in the oven for about 20 minutes, or until the cheese starts to bubble and the topping goes brown. Sprinkle with chopped parsley and serve.

CHOCOLATE COOKIE CHEESECAKE

Steps:

• Put the cookies into the bowl of a food processor and pulse until crumbled. Add the butter and pulse until well combined. Scrape the crumbs into the bottom of a 9-inch springform pan. Using the bottom of an 8-inch cake pan, press down very hard all the way around so that the crumbs are flat and even.
• Put the cream cheese and sugar into a bowl and mix together gently, this will take only a few turns of the spoon. Melt the chocolate in a large heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water, making sure the bottom of the bowl does not touch the water, or you can do this in the microwave. Pour a quarter of the chocolate into a small bowl, add the oil, set aside and keep warm.
• Now add a large dollop of the cream cheese mixture into the large bowl of chocolate and stir well to combine. Add another dollop of cream cheese mixture to the chocolate mixture and stir to combine. Keep adding the cream cheese mixture, one dollop at a time, and mixing it like mad until the chocolate mixture begins to look uniform, smooth and silky. At this point, add the remaining cream cheese mixture into the chocolate mixture and mix together until it is completely incorporated.
• Pour the mixture on top of the biscuit base and use the back of a large spoon to smooth the top. Press it down well so there are no gaps. Put the cheesecake in the refrigerator for about 20 minutes, or the freezer for 10 minutes, until the chocolate top is beginning to firm up a little. It won't be totally hard, but it will begin to feel a bit tacky.
• Five minutes before the cheesecake is ready, melt the white chocolate and make sure the milk chocolate is nice and runny. You can warm it in a microwave for 20 seconds if it has hardened. Now remove the cheesecake from the fridge and, acting quickly, pour the milk chocolate over the top, spreading it out as you go until the top is completely covered. For a smooth finish, pick up the cheesecake and tilt it back and forth, letting the chocolate run over and cover the cream cheese filling. Now drizzle white chocolate lines across the top about 1/2-inch apart. The neatest way to do this is by putting the chocolate into a piping bag fitted with a very small nozzle. Place the cheesecake so the lines are running towards you, then take a toothpick and drag it from left to right, 1/2-inch apart so you have a grid. Then drag the toothpick from right to left between the lines that you have just made. You will need to do this quite quickly so the chocolate lines are still runny.
• Leave the cheesecake in a cool place to set for about 2 hours.
• When you are ready to serve, run a knife around the inside of the pan and remove the outside of the pan. Serve in wedges with a drizzle of heavy cream.

FIG, CREAM CHEESE AND MINT TART

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C).
• Roll out the pastry on a floured counter to the thickness of a 1-cent piece and use it to carefully line the pan. Homemade pastry is short and so will be quite crumbly. Don't be alarmed by this, you can patch it together in the pan. Take a small ball of the pastry (the size of a nickel) and use it to gently ease the dough down into the pan. Press the handle of a wooden spoon against the pastry all round the edges to coax it into the fluted grooves. Trim off the excess around the top and run a thin knife around between the pastry and the edge of the pan to loosen. Put in the refrigerator for about 15 minutes, or until firm.
• Remove the tart from the refrigerator. Take a piece of parchment paper slightly larger than the pan and scrunch it up, then unscrunch it and line the pan with it. Fill it with pie weights or dried beans and "blind bake" in the oven for 20 to 25 minutes, or until the pastry feels sandy to the touch. Remove the paper and bake for an additional 5 minutes. Remove from the oven and set aside.
• For the filling, put the cream in a bowl and whip until beginning to thicken, then fold it into the cream cheese and mix with the honey and Marsala, if using. Put the filling in the tart case, then arrange the figs on top and scatter over the nuts and mint. Serve with a sweet wine such as Asti.
• Figs and mint are delicious, so sprinkling some torn mint leaves over the tart works really well. This tart is best eaten on the day it is made.

MAC AND CHEESE LORRAINE

Steps:

• Heat water for pasta, salt water and cook pasta to al dente.
• While pasta water comes to boil, heat extra-virgin olive oil, 1 turn of the pan, in a deep skillet over medium-high heat. When oil is hot, add bacon and crisp, 5 to 6 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels. Add onions and cook 10 minutes until soft and beginning to caramelize. Add wine and cook out, 1 minute.
• While onions cook, heat a sauce pot over medium heat. Add butter, melt and whisk in flour. Cook 1 minute then whisk in stock and milk and bring to a bubble. Thicken a few minutes then season with salt and pepper. Melt in cheese stirring it in a figure-8 motion with a wooden spoon. Add nutmeg and mustard and adjust salt and pepper.
• Drain pasta, toss with onions and stir in cheese sauce to coat. Top with crispy bacon and serve.