Irish Macaroni and Cheese With Stout

CelticBrewer's Note:

I made this for St Patty's one year from a FoodNetwork recipe. Unfortunately my paper copy is missing and it's no longer on the FN site, but some kind soul saved it for the masses. I'm going to re-post it on Zaar so I never lose it again! This is a great Mac n Cheese for people who are done with the box or nasty ol' Velveeta.

• Total Time: 50 mins
• Prep Time: 20 mins
• Cook Time: 30 mins

Ingredients:

Servings: 4

• 3 teaspoons butter , Kerrygold
• 2 teaspoons shallots , chopped
• ¾ cup Guinness stout or ¾ cup other dry irish stout beer
• 2 cups heavy cream
• ½ cup swiss cheese , Kerrygold grated
• ½ cup cheddar cheese , Kerrygold Vintage grated
• ½ cup dubliner cheese , Kerrygold grated
• 3 ½ cups pasta , cooked and cooled (clover-shaped if available, otherwise elbow)
• ¾ cup plain breadcrumbs

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350° F and butter a 9x13-inch baking dish or six 6-ounce ramekins.
2. Cook pasta acording to its directions. Al dente is fine. Cool pasta and set aside for later.
3. In a skillet over medium heat, melt 1 teaspoon of the butter. Add the shallots and cook until soft, but not browned, about 3 minutes.
4. Add the Guinness and cook until reduced by half, about 5 minutes. Then add the cream and cook until reduced by half, about 5 minutes more. Remove from heat and cool to room temperature.
5. Seperately, Melt remaining 2 teaspoons of butter.
6. In a bowl, combine the cooked pasta, cheese, and cream mixture.
7. Pour into prepared pan or ramekins. Top with bread crumbs and spoon melted butter over the top.
8. Bake for 30 minutes, until bread crumbs are lightly browned and sauce is bubbling.

Reviews

[swissms]

This was really good. I used cavatappi pasta. I substituted Guinness draught because I did not have the stout. I ended up using closer to 3 tablespoons of butter. I used Panko breadcrumbs. Next time I will mix the butter into the breadcrumbs and then sprinkle the crumbs over rather than trying to drizzle the butter evenly over the casserole. I think I will also up the cheese quantity just a bit. Thanks for posting.

[Queen Dana]

My husband loves Guinness and I made this for St. Patrick's Day along with other recipes that called for Guinness. I'm very fond of my own mac and cheese recipe and don't drink beer so I was very hesitant to try this but I'm glad I did. This was so creamy. The Guinness flavor wasn't over powering and went very well with the cheeses.