Nutty Macaroni and Blue Cheese

I swear I'll get back to roasted vegetables--soon. I'm sure the walnuts in this add important antioxidants or what-have-you. But they were rather an unwelcome presence for the girls. Julia picked hers out--and she likes nuts normally. I kind of liked them. So use your judgement. Oh, and if you're a mac and cheese conservative (nothing wrong with that), leave out the blue cheese and walnuts and just put an extra cup of grated cheese (half Cheddar, half Parmesan?) in the sauce.

It occurred to me as I cleaned out the macaroni dish that if you put bread crumbs on the bottom as well as on the top of the macaroni, you could get a double crust. Either that, or a big clean-up headache. Next time I'm going to try that. We love that bread crumb crust.

This comes from How to Cook Everything Vegetarian.

Nutty Macaroni and Blue Cheese

2-1/2 c. milk

2 bay leaves

1 lb. macaroni or other tubular pasta

4 T. butter, divided

3 T. flour

Salt, pepper, nutmeg, red pepper...

1 c. (4 oz.) grated Cheddar

1 c. (3 oz.) crumbled blue cheese (I would use the cheaper, milder Danish kind)

3/4 c. walnuts, chopped

2 slices of whatever bread you have, to make about 1 cup crumbs

Heat the oven to 400. Grease a 9x13-inch baking pan or its baking dish equivalent. Measure the milk into a 4-cup Pyrex measure, add the bay leaves, and microwave for about 2 minutes on high, until it's steaming but not necessarily boiling. Let that sit and steep while you take care of the rest. Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. While you're waiting for that, melt 3 T. of the butter in a saucepan over medium heat. When it's melted, add the flour and whisk a bit for it to brown just a tiny bit. Add salt, pepper, nutmeg, and red pepper--or whatever seasonings you like. Fish the bay leaves out of the milk before gradually pouring it into the roux, whisking as you go. Cook this white sauce until it's thickened and bubbly. Take off the heat and add the Cheddar; stir until the cheese is melted. At this point, if not before, you'll cook the pasta a couple minutes less than the package directions call for. At some point you'll also want to put the bread and the remaining 1 T. butter in a food processor and process until you have crumbs. OK, now we're ready to assemble the mac 'n' cheese: Drain the cooked noodles and pour them into the baking dish. Top with the cheese sauce and stir that around. Mix in the blue cheese and walnuts. Top with the buttered bread crumbs and bake for about 15 minutes, until the crumbs have browned and the sauce is bubbly. Enjoy with a green vegetable and good intentions for moderation.