Baked Mac and Cheese Casserole
Serves 10
30 mins prep
20 mins cook
60 mins Topping & Add In Baking
110 mins total
A cozy baked mac and cheese layered with sharp cheddar, nutty gruyere, and rich camembert, then finished with roasted garlic, crispy prosciutto, and a crunchy herb-toasted baguette topping.
Herb Baguette Crouton Topping
Roasted Garlic Head
Crispy Proscuitto
Baked Mac and Cheese Casserole
Topping
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Herb Baguette Crouton Topping
Preheat oven to 350℉ (180℃) and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Tear fresh baguette into 1-2 inch chunks. Place baguette pieces in a large bowl and toss with the olive oil to evenly coat.
medium French baguette
tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Sprinkle in the chopped herbs and a few pinches of salt. Toss again with your hands to evenly coat the bread with the herbs.
tbsp fresh rosemary
tbsp fresh sage
tbsp fresh thyme
fine sea salt
Spread baguette pieces evenly across the lined baking pan. Sprinkle any leftover herbs from tossing onto the bread.
Place pan on middle rack of the oven and bake for 9-10 minutes. Remove pan from the oven and allow baguette pieces to cool.
Roughly chop the toasted baguette pieces a bit smaller and set aside for later. Save any herbs pieces from the baking tray.
Roasted Garlic Head
Preheat oven to 400℉ (200℃). Remove the outer papery layer of skin from the head of garlic.
large head of garlic
Turn garlic head on its side and cut off the top 1/2-inch of the garlic head to expose the inner cloves. If some of the cloves are still intact, carefully cut the tips off to expose the inner clove. The head should still remain in one piece.
Place the head, cut side up onto a piece of aluminum foil. Drizzle the exposed garlic cloves with the olive oil and wrap the head of garlic into a package with the foil.
tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Place the wrapped head of garlic onto a baking pan or in a baking dish. Bake for 55-70 minutes until the garlic is golden and soft.
Allow garlic head to cool completely in its wrapper.
Squeeze or spoon out the soft roasted garlic cloves from their shell. Mash the roasted garlic cloves with a form to make a paste and set aside.
Crispy Prosciutto
Leave oven at 400℉ (200℃). Place slices of ham evenly spaced on a parchment paper lined baking sheet.
oz prosciutto ham
Bake on middle rack of the oven for 9-10 minutes until slices start to shrivel and get firm. Keep an eye out not to over bake.
Remove from heat and allow the crispy prosciutto to cool completely. Tear into 1-1.5 inch strips and set aside.
Baked Mac and Cheese Casserole
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil, and cook the pasta ‘al dente’ according to package directions. This may be about 1-2 minutes less than instructed. Do not drain the pasta. Reserve 1/4 cup pasta water just in case.
oz lumache rigate or elbow macaroni pasta
Make the bechamel roux first. In a large ovenproof skillet melt butter over medium heat. Add the flour and whisk constantly, for 1 minute. It will turn into a oatmeal like paste. Whisk until smooth and glossy.
oz unsalted butter
oz all purpose flour
Slowly pour in 240 grams (1 cup) of the milk to start, whisking to dissolve the flour paste into the milk. Add in the remaining milk, 1 cup at a time and continue to whisk until all lumps have been worked out.
oz whole milk
Grate in the nutmeg, add the salt and pepper, then stir again. Add in the dijon, stir to distribute.
tbsp dijon mustard
tsp ground nutmeg
tsp black pepper
tsp fine sea salt
Continue to cook while whisking for 5-8 minutes until the sauce has thickened to a creamy milk gravy consistency.
When the sauce coats the back of spoon and you can draw a path through it with your whisk/spoon it's ready for the cheese.
Remove the pan from the heat (or simply turn the heat off) and stir in the mashed roasted garlic cloves to distribute.
roasted garlic paste
Next, add in the grated cheese a handful at a time. Stir to mix into the sauce, but it doesn’t need to melt completely.
oz aged yellow cheddar cheese
oz gruyere cheese
Add in the chunks of camembert cheese and stir again. The camembert should melt pretty quickly. Stir cheese until it is mostly melted.
oz camembert or brie cheese
Now, to add in the pasta shells! Use a slotted spoon to transfer all of the noodles into the cheese sauce.
oz lumache rigate or elbow macaroni pasta
The pasta shells will hold a little bit of pasta water in them and will help smooth out the sauce. If you want a thinner sauce, just add a splash of the reserved pasta water.
Fold the noodles into the sauce to evenly mix and coat with a rubber spatula.
Sprinkle the crispy ham pieces into the mixture and fold them into the cheese using a rubber spatula.
crispy prosciutto
Level the mac and cheese into the pan. Add a layer of sprinkled gruyere onto the pasta mix.
oz gruyere cheese
Spread the toasted herb baguette croutons across the mac and cheese.
herb baguette croutons
Sprinkle the remaining gruyere cheese across the baguette pieces.
Transfer the skillet onto the middle rack of the oven and bake for 15-20 minutes until you see the cheese is bubbling around the outsides of the pan and a little in the middle.
Don’t overcook the mac and cheese, as it will cook down the cheese sauce.
Remove from the oven and serve immediately!
