Mac and cheese is already perfect on its own — a creamy, cheesy, delicious pasta that even the kids will devour? Yes, please! — but if you are craving something slightly different to bring to Thanksgiving this year, then you can’t go wrong with Giada de Laurentiis’ slight twist. The Italian chef gave an Italian spin on this classic side dish, and everyone is going to love it.
The Giadzy founder shared a video of her Crispy Sheet Pan Mac and Cheese recipe on Instagram, which she calls “a masterpiece of crunchiness and creaminess mixed together.”
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She starts by mixing panko, Parmesan cheese, and other ingredients in a bowl, then sitting aside. To make the pasta sauce, she melts butter in a large saucepan, adding milk, flour, and several other ingredients along the way.
The pasta she uses for this called taccole, which is like “Lasagna sheets cut up.” Once they are cooked “until just shy of al dente,” then she transfers the noodles with a pasta spider to the cheese sauce, explaining that this is the “origins of mac and cheese” in the first place. “Exactly this shape pasta was made for the very first mac and cheese a long time ago in Italy,” she explains. Pretty cool, right?
She puts datterini tomatoes on top, which are “super sweet,” then adds the breadcrumb mixture from the beginning. Bake until the mac and cheese is brown, crunchy, and crispy.
One happy home chef who made the recipe commented, “Comforting and cheesy! The datterini tomatoes definitely give this dish another layer of flavor. Don’t skip them! I’ll be making this dish again.”
Others shared that the recipe can be substituted with any short pasta and different types of cheeses to make it different. Either way, this Italian-style mac and cheese dish is sure to be a hit at your next party.
Get de Laurentiis’ full Crispy Sheet Pan Mac and Cheese recipe on Giadzy HERE. And be sure to save, because you’ll never want regular mac and cheese again!
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Dining and Cooking