Bleu Cheesy Mac with Pear Walnut Croutons
Ingredients
- 2 cups rotini pasta*
- 2 cups milk
- 2 T butter
- 2 T all purpose flour
- 3 oz. Manchego White Cheddar or Cheddar, grated
- 2 oz. quality bleu or roquefort cheese crumbled,**
- 3 slices thin white bread like Pepperidge Farm thin white, lightly toasted and buttered
- 1 ripe barlett pear cored and diced {leave peel on for color and texture}
- 3 oz. walnuts chopped
- salt & pepper
- 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add pasta and stir. Cover pot and turn off burner. Let pot sit on burner while preparing sauce.
- Melt butter in a medium sauce pan over medium heat. Stir in flour to form a roux. Slowly incorporate milk, about 1/2 cup at a time, cooking and stirring until sauce is thickened. Season with salt, pepper and nutmeg. Remove from heat. Stir in cheeses. Return to burner on low to melt if necessary.
- Drain pasta and turn into a greased shallow baking dish. Pour sauce over pasta and gently push pasta down and around in sauce to coat and distribute.
- Cut bread into small cubes and toss with diced pear and chopped walnuts in a mixing bowl. Sprinkle evenly over top of pasta. Cover and refrigerate if desired.
- Bake pasta covered at 350 for 30 minutes. Uncover and bake 10 minutes more. If pasta is cold, increase baking time 15-30 minutes or until pasta is hot and bubbly. Serves 6-8.
- To reheat, drizzle pasta with a little milk or cream and bake covered at 325 until heated through
Notes
*use a pasta with a lot of surface variations to hold the creamy sauce
**use more if you want extra bleu cheese flavor or substitute 2 oz. of preferred cheese