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Friday, February 12, 2010

Spicy Crab Macaroni and Cheese

Inspired by the leftovers from my crab cake recipe that I had in the refrigerator, I decided to make some slightly fancier macaroni and cheese. Turned out to be fantastic. Since I'm assuming you won't have leftover crab cake mixture, the recipe below is from the beginning. Enjoy!


Spicy Crab Macaroni and Cheese

8 oz lump crab meat (you can use canned if you want)
1/2 red bell pepper, finely diced
1/2 white onion, finely diced
1 clove garlic, minced
3 T butter
2 T flour
1 1/2 cups milk
1 egg
1 T Worcestershire sauce
2 tsp dry mustard
1 tsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1 cup pepper jack cheese
1 cup sharp cheddar cheese
1/2 cup Panko bread crumbs
8 oz short cut pasta (I used a mix of whole wheat rotini and regular elbow pasta because that's what was in the pantry)
Salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Heat a large pot of water for pasta. When boiling, add a generous spoonful of salt and pasta. Cook to just al dente, strain and set aside.

Meanwhile, melt 1 T of butter in a large skillet over medium heat, add red pepper, onion and garlic and saute until softened, about 5 minutes. Transfer to a large bowl and cool slightly. Roughly chop crab meat and add to pepper mixture. Beat egg, add Worcestershire sauce and add to mixture. In the same pan, melt the remaining butter and add flour. Whisk until foamy. Slowly add milk, whisking frequently. Stir in mustard and cayenne pepper. Cook until the mixture thickens slightly. Reduce heat to low and add in cheeses a handful at a time, stirring until melted. Add crab mixture and pasta. Stir everything together to mix well. Add thyme and salt and pepper to taste.


Pour mixture into a 9x13 baking dish and top with bread crumbs. Bake for approximately 30 minutes until bubbly.

5 comments:

  1. that looks SO GOOD!!
    I LOVE MACARONI!!

    i am now following your blog :)

    www.kitchenkarate.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  2. I LOVE how fool proof this recipe is written :) the bechemel came out perfect!! I doubled the recipe so I used 1 bell pep and 1 bunch of broccoli. All I had was some left over queso dip so I dumped it in there and topped with half a pkg of Italian cheese blend I had in the fridge. This recipe is so versatile and forgiving!!! oh I had shell pasta so there you have it. This family of FIVE had a clean plates tonite!!!!
    THANK YOU!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Glad you enjoyed it! It's one of our favorites!

      Delete
  3. Zatarain's makes mixes for salmon cakes and tuna cakes. I bet you could switch those in place of the crab too.

    ReplyDelete

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