I have been on the hunt for this recipe for two years. A young lady, who will not be named, used to make this for me. Now after our relationship (as well as her relationship with everyone she knows) went sour because she went ABSOLUTELY CRAZY, I had no access to the recipe. I finally found it again on this website, but it’s originally from the cookbook “From Our House to Yours”. Make this, share it, enjoy it that day and the day after. I made two trays of this baby for New Years and it was perfect! Nothing like a four cheese, vegetarian option. The pasta ends up in a creamy white sauce with the wonderfully melty, burny cheeses on top. I’ve never ever seen food disappear so fast.
I forgot to take a picture of the pasta since there were about 50 people in my apartment when it came out of the oven. However, I will leave you with a nice picture of the Girlfriend, her sister, and myself. Oh, and the soda we stored above our fridge. Almost as classy as our broken doorbell which we marked with a manilla folder telling people just to come on in.
Ingredients:
- 1 tablespoon salt, plus more to taste
- 1 pound dried pasta such as fusilli, penne, rigatoni, or ziti
- 6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour, preferably unbleached
- 4 cups milk
- 2 cups evaporated milk
- Freshly ground pepper to taste
- Freshly grated nutmeg to taste
- 1 1/2 cups each freshly shredded Gruyère cheese (about 5 ounces), freshly shredded emmentaler cheese (about 4 1/2 ounces), freshly shredded sharp cheddar cheese (about 5 ounces)
- 1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese (about 4 ounces), preferably Parmigiano-Reggiano
Stir the 1 tablespoon salt into a large pot of rapidly boiling water. Drop the pasta into the boiling water and cook, stirring frequently, until tender but still firm to the bite. Drain into a colander, rinse under cold running water, drain again, transfer to a large bowl, and set aside.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9-by-13-inch baking dish and set aside.
In a heavy saucepan, melt the butter over low heat. Whisk in the flour and cook, whisking or stirring almost constantly, until bubbly and fragrant, about 5 minutes; do not brown. Remove from heat.
Meanwhile, in a saucepan, combine the milk and evaporated milk and bring just to a boil over medium- high heat. Pour all at once into the butter and flour mixture and whisk until smooth. Season with salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Place the pan over medium heat and cook, whisking or stirring constantly, until thickened, about 5 minutes. Pour over the cooked pasta and stir to thoroughly coat the pasta. Spread the pasta evenly in the prepared baking dish.
In a bowl, combine the four cheeses, then sprinkle evenly over the pasta. Lightly dust the top with grated nutmeg and bake until the cheese melts and the pasta is heated through, about 25 minutes.
Transfer the baking dish to the broiler and cook until the cheese is slightly golden, about 3 minutes.
To Make Ahead: Store, covered, in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
To Reheat: Heat in a microwave or a preheated 350 degree oven until heated through.
Serves 4 to 6
If you’re really curious, here is the picture from the cookbook/website. Yes, it looks exactly like this. Oh God, I’m dying looking at it.
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