Kids & Family

Queens Eats: Sun Dried Tomato and Chevre Mac and Cheese

This savory pasta dish is heavy on the cheese.

This article was written by Erin Walsh.

One of my hazy childhood memories is driving through Pennsylvania and seeing a billboard emblazoned with the tagline, “Cheese is everything.”

I did a quick Google search and can’t find its origin, but I’m guessing that it must have been sponsored by the National Dairy Council or some other such cheese-shilling organization.

In any event, the reason why I mention it is that this tagline could very well be one of my life’s guiding principles. I love cheese, in every variety, whether served at room temperature on its own, with crackers, in a sandwich or melted.

So, you can imagine my delight when, in JFK a while back en route to Morocco, I spotted an issue of the Food Network magazine aptly named The Cheese Issue. I immediately had to buy a copy and spent a portion of the seven-hour flight alternately drooling and feverishly perusing its contents.

So far, I’ve made two versions of the magazine’s 50 Twists on Mac and Cheese, both of which have been superb, and share with you today the recipe for Sun-dried Tomato and Goat Cheese Mac and Cheese.

Savor this dish in all of its cheesy goodness and stay tuned for a future column that might reveal future cheesy-gems from this issue of the magazine.

Ingredients 

8 oz. penne or other short pasta
1 clove garlic, smashed
1 tbsp. unsalted butter
2 cups heavy cream (Note: I used half and half to cut down the fat)
Freshly ground pepper
½ cup grated Parmesan cheese
4 oz. goat cheese
¼ cup chopped sun-dried tomato
Handful of chopped basil

Directions

1. Bring pot of salted water to boil; add the pasta and cook until al dente, reserve 1 cup cooking water, then drain the pasta.

2. Meanwhile, heat a large skillet with the smashed garlic clove and then discard the garlic. Add the butter and heat over medium-high heat. Add the cream, ½ tablespoon salt and pepper to taste and bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer until reduced by about 1/3, 5 minutes. Stir in the Parmesan.

3. Add the pasta and just enough of the reserved cooking water to make a thick sauce. Season with slat and pepper and top with more Parmesan, if desired.

4. Stir in 4 oz. goat cheese, ¼ cup chopped sun-dried tomatoes and a handful of chopped basil.


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