Forget those little elbow macaroni: Make your mac & cheese with jumbo shells.
June 2008
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Gourmet Macaroni And Cheese Recipes
Recipe II: Jumbo Shell Pasta Stuffed With Baby White Cheddar & Chicken Macaroni
Jumbo Shell Pasta Stuffed With White Cheddar & Chicken Macaroni Recipe
Lorie Roach thinks big: No little elbow macaroni for her. The result: Her jumbo stuffed shell mac & cheese recipe, stuffed with smaller shells and chicken, was the 2007 Grand Prize Winner in the Tillamook Macaroni & Cheese Recipe Contest. While this may have been judged to be the best macaroni and cheese recipe, we’d recommend a shorter name: Jumbo Shell Mac & Cheese Surprise. The surprise is to find jumbo shells stuffed with smaller shells, with a chicken bonus!
Ingredients
- 6 ounces dried small macaroni shells
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12 ounces dried jumbo macaroni shells
- 1/4 cup salted butter
- 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 2 cups whole milk
- 1 cup half and half
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon cracked black pepper (use a mortar and pestle to crack peppercorns)
- 4 cups shredded aged white Cheddar, divided
- 3/4 cup chopped oil-packed sundried tomatoes, drained
- 2 cups shredded cooked chicken
- 2 tablespoons salted butter, melted
- 1 cup finely-crushed cornflakes
- Nonstick cooking spray
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Preparation
- Preheat oven to 400°F. In a large saucepan at separate times (or in two saucepans simultaneously), cook both shell sizes according to package directions, to al dente. Immediately rinse with cold water to stop the cooking process. Drain and set each aside.
- In a large heavy saucepan, melt 1/4 cup butter over medium to high heat; add flour and whisk for 1 minute. Gradually whisk in the milk and half and half; continue to cook over medium to high heat, stirring constantly, until thickened and bubbly.
- Stir in the salt, pepper and 3 cups of the shredded cheese, until melted. Stir in the small shell macaroni, the chopped sundried tomatoes and the shredded chicken.
- Spray a 13 x 9-inch baking dish with nonstick cooking spray. Fill each jumbo shell carefully with the white Cheddar macaroni and place shells side by side in the dish. Sprinkle with remaining 1 cup shredded cheese. Stir together the 2 tablespoons melted butter and the crushed cornflakes. Sprinkle evenly on tops of shells. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown on top.
NEXT RECIPE: King Crab Mac & Cheese
WHEN YOU THINK “MAC & CHEESE,” THINK BEYOND ELBOW MACARONI.
In fact, many award-winning recipes use other shapes.
See the different pasta shapes in our
PASTA GLOSSARY. |
Recipe and images copyright Tillamook. Other material
Lifestyle Direct, Inc. All rights reserved. |
