Ever since I was inspired to live like Ina Garten for a day at the start of the pandemic, the “Barefoot Contessa” star has been my biggest source of inspiration in the kitchen.
From her comforting five-cheese penne to her easy weeknight Bolognese, an Ina Garten pasta dish has never led me astray.
So why should I stop just because it’s the holidays?
I knew Garten’s overnight mac and cheese would be the perfect pasta dish for Thanksgiving.
Garten’s overnight mac and cheese appears in her most recent cookbook, “Go-To Dinners.”
The “Barefoot Contessa” star calls her mac and cheese the “perfect make-ahead dish,” which sounded great for the holidays. Plus, she said it was the “creamiest, crustiest, most delicious mac and cheese” she’s ever made. I obviously had to try it!
Garten’s overnight mac and cheese only requires a few ingredients.
To make Garten’s dish for four, you’ll need:
- 8 ounces of cavatappi or elbow macaroni
- 3 cups of heavy cream
- 2 cups of grated Gruyère cheese
- 1 cup of grated sharp white cheddar
- 2 tablespoons of unsalted butter (melted)
- ¼ teaspoon of ground nutmeg
- 1 ½ cups of fine fresh white breadcrumbs
I doubled this recipe to make enough pasta for six people. I should also note that I didn’t make my own breadcrumbs, as I was cooking multiple Ina Garten dishes for Friendsgiving. As Garten herself says, sometimes store-bought is fine!
If you do want to make your own breadcrumbs, Garten’s instructions are as follows: Remove the crusts from five slices of white bread and dice them. Put the bread into the bowl of a food processor fitted with the steel blade and process until you have fine crumbs.
My prep started the day before Friendsgiving, and the first step was (briefly) cooking the pasta.
I brought a large pot of water to a boil and added 2 tablespoons of salt.
I let the pasta cook for four minutes, then drained the pot and set it aside. Garten also notes not to rinse the pasta during this step.
Then, it was time to do a little prep.
While the pasta was partially cooking, I grated both the Gruyère and sharp white cheddar so they’d be ready for the sauce.
If you’re making this dish for four, you’ll want to grate 1 cup of your Gruyère and ½ cup of the cheddar.
I got to work on the creamy sauce.
Garten notes that, unlike most mac-and-cheese pastas, you don’t need to make a roux for her overnight version.
Her sauce for this dish is super simple. First, I added my two cheeses to a medium bowl.
After adding the cheeses, I threw in the heavy cream.
Six cups of heavy cream sounded like too much, so I added a full 32-ounce bottle (equivalent to 4 cups) to the sauce. The end result was still wonderfully creamy — trust me.
Then, I added the seasoning.
I added the nutmeg, along with salt and pepper. You’ll want to add 2 teaspoons of salt and 1 teaspoon of pepper if you’re making this for four.
After the creamy sauce was ready, I threw in the cavatappi pasta.
I stirred the hot pasta into the creamy mixture, then covered the bowl with plastic wrap and threw it in the fridge for 24 hours, per Garten’s instructions.
The next day, I took my pasta out of the fridge and buttered my baking dish.
Garten recommends letting your creamy mixture sit at room temperature for about an hour before baking it.
If you don’t have that kind of time, she says you can microwave it for four minutes.
I added the pasta mixture to my baking dish, along with the cheeses.
If you’re making this for four, combine 1 cup of Gruyère with ½ cup of cheddar.
I topped everything off with the breadcrumbs.
If you made your own breadcrumbs (major props to you), Garten recommends combining them with 2 tablespoons of melted butter before sprinkling them on top.
I cooked my mac and cheese for 25 minutes, making sure to rotate the dish halfway through.
I baked the mac and cheese at 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
When the mac and cheese came out of the oven, it had a beautiful golden-brown color.
The dish looked extremely appetizing, and I loved that it needed less than 30 minutes to finish on the night of my Friendsgiving.
Since there was barely any additional work necessary, I was able to bake it just as my friends started arriving so I could serve it straight out of the oven.
And the mac and cheese was easily the star of my Friendsgiving dinner table.
Among a delicious spread that had Garten’s corn bread and mashed potatoes, as well as brisket, roast chicken, and the wildest Thanksgiving cake you’d ever seen, it was this mac and cheese that everyone couldn’t stop talking about.
The breadcrumb crust gave each bite a nice crunch, and the sauce was decadent without overpowering the dish.
My fiancé, who was my sous-chef for the night, said the pasta was “exceptionally creamy” and the “perfect mix of salt and breadcrumbs.”
“I love how all the pasta just hugs the cheese and breadcrumbs,” our friend Jeff added. “It’s like a hug in your mouth.”
Garten’s overnight mac and cheese was so simple and delicious. I know I’ll be making it long after Thanksgiving has come and gone.
Since you can prepare it a day or two ahead, it’s a great pasta for a dinner party where you’ll be juggling quite a few things — or a quick but easy dish to delight everyone at a potluck.
Garten’s mac and cheese is so cheesy and comforting, I’ll definitely make this pasta for a busy winter week. And I won’t lie: We loved this mac and cheese so much that we nibbled on it the next day without even bothering to warm it up. It’s that delicious.
So whether you’re looking to impress at the next holiday party or just want a soothing bowl of ooey-gooey pasta, this overnight mac and cheese has got you covered.
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The post I tried Ina Garten’s easy overnight mac and cheese. It’s one of the best dishes I’ve ever made for Thanksgiving. appeared first on Business Insider.
