I absolutely adore macaroni and cheese! People tend to think of it as a kid's food and something that comes out of a box and is covered in some powdered excuse for a dairy product. But macaroni and cheese is one of my all time favorite foods! And there's nothing more decadent than lobster macaroni and cheese.
I tend to make macaroni and cheese for at least one special occasion every year. It usually makes a cameo on Thanksgiving or Christmas or maybe my Birthday. A lot of the time I'll make the pasta from scratch as well. This sounds incredibly daunting, but is much quicker and easier to make than you would ever anticipate! Although it does require semolina and in rural Wisconsin, I'm having the darnedest time finding it these days!
Why Lobster Macaroni and Cheese?
What I do have at the moment is copious amounts of fancy cheese.
This entire recipe was inspired by fondue. For Thanksgiving, I made Pumpkin Fondue with Scottish Swiss cheese and gruyère. That meant that I had plenty of leftover cheese and Kirsch. What else could I do other than make a second round of fondue? My mind immediately began to turn to macaroni and cheese!
What I can also find in abundance for a good price is lobster and Patagonian shrimp.
Today, lobster is considered the height of seafood. It's one of the things that you splurge with on the menu for special occasions. No one I know is eating lobster because it's Tuesday! But this wasn't always the case. Lobster used to be considered the rat of the seafood world and was served to prisoners.
Ohh how the tables have turned! With the right preparation, lobster is absolutely delicious. It pairs perfectly with a cream sauce. During Coronavirus it has also been incredibly on sale. Sanctions against the main importers of lobster have led to a huge influx in domestic availability. That makes it a perfect time to splurge.
Instead of spending $15 on fancy cheese, I simply opted to spend it on lobster and Patagonian shrimp.
I really don't like cocktail shrimp or even cocktail sauce for that matter...! But Patagonian shrimp is absolutely delicious. They're larger than typical varieties and are more like the halfway point between cocktail shrimp and lobster.
Gallery
Holidays are more for eating than food blogging! So, I did a rather sub-par job getting good photos of this lobster macaroni and cheese. I've made a couple of other incredibly similar recipes, though, if you want a better idea of what it looks like out of the oven!
What to Make Along with Lobster Macaroni and Cheese?
For the rest of the recipes that I made during Christmas this year, along with a breakdown of how to get them all in and out of the oven in time for dinner! Lobster Macaroni and Cheese is also one of my favorites, though. There aren't many great excuses to mix seafood and cheese without getting dirty looks. Every time I see someone put cheddar on top of a baked fish, I cringe a little bit. But no one's going to bat an eye at that same fish baked with white cheddar and cavatappi.
Macaroni and Cheese w/ Lobster & Patagonian Shrimp
Mac 'n' Cheese isn't just for kids! This fondue-inspired Lobster Macaroni and Cheese combines lobster, Patagonian shrimp, Swiss, gruyère, and parmesan for an incredibly decadent take on a childhood classic. With a hint of lemon, kirsch, and white wine? This meal definitely belongs at the adults table. I also swapped out the classic elbow macaroni for a slightly more festive cavatappi.
If your lobster is pre-cooked, you can skip this step.If it's pre-cooked and still a bit frozen, though, you can follow these instructions to defrost it completely. Just don't try this with a completely frozen lobster tail!
Preheat oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit.
With a very sharp knife or kitchen scissors, split open the lobster tails down the spine to reveal the meat.You can fan cut, split, or even butterfly the lobster if you want. You're not serving them whole, so it really doesn't matter! Just reveal the meat in whatever method you prefer.
If there are any intestines or eggs, clean these out.These are edible (and in some places considered a delicacy), but don't necessarily have the right flavor profile for this dish.
Place on a baking sheet or in a baking dish and divide 2 tablespoons butter between the 3 lobsters.The butter doesn't need to be melted or softened. Just place in the center of the lobster and it will melt into the lobster as it cooks.
Bake for 10-13 minutes, or until the lobster is just barely cooked.Make sure not to over bake because it will still cook more when you bake the macaroni and cheese!Lobster is cooked when the meat reaches 135-140 degrees Fahrenheit. At this point the shell should be bright red and the inner meat should be white when you cut into it, not grey or translucent.
Sautée Patagonian Shrimp
Preheat 1 tablespoon butter in a skillet over medium-high heat.
Add whole shrimp to the skillet and turn in the butter.
Cook, turning occasionally, for 3-5 minutes, or until the shrimp is barely cooked.Much like lobster, shrimp is done when the meat reaches 135-140 degrees Fahrenheit. At this point the shell should be bright red and the inner meat should be white, not grey or translucent. The tails should also curl in to create a spiral.
Let the lobster and shrimp cool slightly, remove the shells, and then dice. Mix together in a small bowl and squeeze half of a lemon over them.
Cook Pasta
Add about 4 inches of water to a large pot and bring to a boil over high heat.
Cook pasta according to the manufacturer's instructions. This typically entails boiling for about 8-12 minutes, or until barely al dente.The pasta will cook another half hour in the oven, so make sure not to overcook them during this stage!
Drain and set aside.You may want to stir it occasionally to keep the noodles from sticking together.
Prepare Roux
Turn the oven up to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
Lightly coat the bottom and sides of a large baking dish with olive oil and set aside.
Preheat saucepan on medium-heat. Add 1/4 cup butter and melt.You can re-use the same skillet for cooking the shrimp without cleaning, the residual butter and flavor of shrimp is fine.
Immediately when the butter melts, add flour and stir constantly until incorporated. This should take about 3 minutes.Do NOT brown or overcook, though. You just want the butter and flour to incorporate until you add the spices.
Add salt, pepper, mustard, Worcestershire sauce, and kirsch. Stir constantly for 5 minutes, or until lightly browned.
Add milk, a little at a time, and stir constantly until incorporated after each addition. This is very important because the milk needs to be slowly incorporated in order to mix in without separating.I tend to add 1/4 or even 1/8 a cup at a time for thee first half of the milk and then add the milk more rapidly after it becomes more of a liquid than a solid.
Add wine, similarly a little at a time, and mix until fully incorporated.
Meanwhile, grate the Swiss and gruyère cheese and add to roux 1/2 cup at a time. Mix constantly until fully incorporated.
Add lobster, patagonian shrimp, and noodles. Stir until fully coated in the cheese mixture.
Bake Macaroni and Cheese
Pour macaroni and cheese into greased baking dish.
Top with the seafood mixture and grate parmesan cheese over the top.
Bake for 30-40 minutes, or until the top begins to brown.
Let cool slightly and cut into 2-inch squares. Serve immediately.
Tips, Tricks, & Notes
You can reheat macaroni in the oven at 350 degrees for about 15 minutes. However, macaroni and cheese doesn't necessarily reheat well! After refrigeration, the noodles typically harden and the lasagna tends to dry out. The seafood will likely overcook during this process. And the cheese tends to separate and get oily if you reheat too rapidly.
Whatever you do, absolutely do not put macaroni and cheese in the microwave!!
Alternatively, you can reheat on the stovetop. Just place in a skillet with a lid and slowly bring the heat to medium. When the macaroni begins to soften, carefully spear with a silicone spatula to separate. Continue to heat with the lid on and stir occasionally. You may need to add additional milk to this to help prevent the noodles from drying out and the cheese from separating.
I did eat this plenty for leftovers and remade the entire roux section of the recipe. That way I could add additional moisture into the dish to help keep it from drying out.
With the seafood on top, you can also scrape the lobster and shrimp off to keep it from overcooking during the reheating process.
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