Macaronis Au Gratin Va Va VOOM

"As they roast, the dabs of butter melt into the mushroom juices and the hit of garlic, making a lovely, deep jus that seeps into the mac and cheese they rest on." - MARLENA SPIELER

At the moment, I am broke. I ripped off my driver's side mirror in an unfortunate incident of stupidity, so that is where a chunk of my holiday savings have gone. This explains why I skimped on the suggested 8 - 10 oz of mushrooms, and went with 6 pieces. I do not recommend it.  This dish would have looked ten times more spectacular if the entire thing was topped with a mountain of shroom, but I ended up having to scatter them far and wide... each an ocean apart from the other.

I also added procuitto to this already hefty dish because that is how I live my life -- in excess.

Macaronis Au Gratin Va Va Voom
adapted from Macaroni & Cheese by Marlena Spieler

INGREDIENTS

12 oz small macaroni (i.e. elbow)
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1 shallot, chopped
10-12 oz Gruyere cheese, shredded
4 oz heavy cream
salt + pepper to taste
5 tablespoons unsalted butter
8-10 oz medium mushrooms, stems removed and chopped
1 tablespoon fresh chives, chopped
4 slices prociutto, baked and crumbled

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 375 F. Lay the prociutto flat on a baking sheet, stick it in the oven, and forget about it for about 5 minutes. Take them out when they've gotten crispy.

Cook the pasta in a large pot of salted water until it is barely al dente (5 minutes for elbows). Drain, reserve 1/2 cup of the pasta liquid.

Return the hot pasta to the pan immediately, and toss with about a quarter of the garlic, chopped shallot, half the shredded cheese, heavy cream, salt + pepper, prociutto, chopped stems, and 2 T of the butter.

Add the pasta  liquid, and toss again. Add the rest of the cheese and toss one last time.

Spoon the pasta mixture into a baking dish evenly and lay the mushroom caps on top, smooth side down.  Cut the remaining 3 T butter into small sqaures and fit them into each of the mushroom caps.  Sprinkle with remaining garlic, and season with salt + pepper.

Bake for about 20 minutes, or until the mushrooms begin to brown and the juices collect in the caps.

Sprinkle with chives just before serving.