Saturday, May 11, 2013

Shrimp Mac and Cheese


Not too long ago my husband and I had lunch at a great seafood restaurant in town.  Overall our meal was delicious, but what impressed me the most was the lobster mac and cheese we had as an appetizer.  I love mac and cheese and lobster, but have never tried them together.  The dish was rich and creamy and every forkful had a chunk of lobster in it.  Definitely my new favorite.

It was so good that I attempted to recreate the dish at home.  But after pricing lobster in the market I decided to use shrimp; lobsters's less expensive cousin!

A flavorful and inexpensive alternative, adding shrimp really enhanced the dish.

My family enjoyed the dish just as much as I did.  A decadent one dish meal.  Perfect comfort food for all of the seafood lovers out there!
  
Ingredients
1 pound of fresh wild caught shrimp, peeled and deveined once cooked I cut each shrimp in half 
8 oz fontina cheese, cubed (can be substituted here
8 oz sharp white cheddar cheese, shredded 
2 cups half and half 
1/2 C butter 
1/2 C white wine 
2 eggs, lightly beaten
2 shallots, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves minced  
1/2 tsp nutmeg 
8 oz cooked macaroni (cook the pasta according to the box directions for al dente pasta) 
1 C panko breadcrumbs 
2 tbsp parsley, chopped 
1/4 teaspoon each salt and pepper
4 tbsp salted butter (divided into 1 tbsp) 

Directions 
In a small sauce pan, melt 1 tbsp butter and saute the garlic and shallots until tender.  Set aside.  In a separate skillet, melt 1 tablespoon of butter over medium heat.  Add the shrimp and cook, stirring occasionally, until shrimp is pink and cooked through. Remove the pan from the heat and set aside.  In a large pot on low heat, stir together eggs, 1/2 cup butter, half-and-half, the fontina cheese, the white cheddar cheese, parsley, white wine, nutmeg, salt and pepper and mix well.  Allow sauce to come to a simmer.  Stir in shrimp and cooked macaroni.  Add the shallots and garlic.  Remove from heat and transfer to buttered 2-quart casserole.  Melt 2 tbsp butter in a bowl.  Add the panko breadcrumbs and mix with a fork until coated with butter.  Top the macaroni and cheese with the mixture.  Bake uncovered, 40 to 45 minutes or until heated through. 


Recipe adapted from: http://www.bhg.com

19 comments:

  1. Yum! I had not heard of that restaurant. My Granny lived in that area many years ago, at Christian Towers (and I delivered both of our girls at Dekalb Medical). Next time I am down that way I will have to try it.

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  2. A very special mac and cheese that looks delicious! Very nice, Brandi :)

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  3. Hi Brandi the dish looks scrumptious. My best friend lives in Georgia and I will be sure to check out the restaurant when I visit. Thanks!

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  4. This looks so delish! I'm def going to try this!

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  5. Love it I put shrimp in mines too its the best and yours looks delish

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  6. I am definitely trying this! Great recipe Brandi :)

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  7. Oh, my! My husband would love this! I will try it! Happy Mother's Day!

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  8. Love this recipe, my old time fav! Thanks for the recipe. Hope you are having a great Mother's Day, along with your dear family.
    FABBY

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  9. Oh, I forgot to add...the shrimp is a great twist for me!
    FABBY

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  10. I love that lobster macaroni and cheese at Capitol Grille!!! That was my first experience with it, and now if I see it on a menu, I am all over it! I always want to compare it to the Capitol Grille version! :-) I think your recipe would be a winner in this household, too! Macaroni, cheese, shrimp...what's not to love? ;-)

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  11. OMG, I am just catching up on emails and blog reading, and come across this. Girl I just try this with lobsters less-expensive cousin shrimp. That line cracked me up! I will tell you how it came out.

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  12. That looks and sounds sooo delish. I've heard of people making mac and cheese with ham, but the shrimp looks so much more appealing to me (not a fan of ham). I would've never thought to use those ingredients. Definitely bookmaking the page to try later.

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  13. This looks absolutely delicious! I love different flavor versions of mac and cheese, and LOVE lobster mac and cheese, so I know I would LOVE this!!! Thanks for sharing, I'll have to use shrimp next time too!!! Looks wonderful!

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  14. YUM! I will have to try this. We all love shrimp, we all love mac and cheese... it's a no-brainer! Thanks for sharing!

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  15. Yummy! Share this one too!! Hugs.

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  16. Get in my belly!!! That looks so good!... Bet it would be good with crab as well - we are a seafood family so anything with seafood makes my belly happy =)

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  17. Oh,my! This looks soooo delicious. I've often heard of lobster mac and cheese, but never made it. I probably would use the shrimp, too. Thanks for sharing your recipe. Visiting from Wow Us Wednesday.
    Babs

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  18. This looks amazing! I a new follower from southern charm! I would love for you to check out my blog and follow me back! Nicole

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  19. Shrimp and cheese. they are my all time favorite! Pinned!

    -Honeybee
    http://herweightlossdiary.blogspot.com

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