monthly macaroni 7

this month i chose to make the pan-roasted scallops with white cheddar mac and cheese, grilled asparagus and lemon gremolata. i obviously altered it by not using any pan-roasted scallops, but im sure they would taste great to those who actually eat them. it tasted pretty good, but needed many alterations. this could possibly be due to omitting the scallops, but i am not quite sure.

i was a bit nervous about the white cheddar because it is always a hit or miss whether i will like it or not. sometimes i absolutely hate the taste of white cheddar, like when it is involved in cheez-its, but sometimes i love it, like when it is involved in pasta roni. because of this i purchased the plain white cheddar over the sharp white cheddar. looking back, i feel that i should have gone with the sharp white cheddar because the regular white cheddar did not seem to have much flavor or really any flavor at all. it still tasted good, but i needed to add extreme amounts of parmesan in order for it to get to that point.

one thing i really liked about this macaroni was how creamy and thick the sauce was. this may have been due to me adding way more cheese than the recipe called for, but regardless, i enjoyed it. my favorite macaroni that i have made thus far does not have such a thick sauce and seems a bit more oily/greasy, but the flavor makes up for it!

another alteration i would make in the future is to cook an entire pound of asparagus. i did not make the entire bunch this time because i did not want it to be overpowering and i actually made the amount the recipe called for. i would also not cute the asparagus or mix it in with the macaroni. i thought it looked a bit messy and i think things taste better when they look beautiful. instead i would keep them whole and put the asparagus on the plate first and place the macaroni on top of it.

despite the few alterations i would make during the next go around, the plates were still cleaned and stomachs were satisfied! overall, i think i would rate this macaroni recipe 5th out of the 6 i have made thus far. that ranking is a bit unfair and does not give this recipe much credit because i rate the macaroni recipes on an awesomeness scale. this macaroni was still good, just not awesome.

happy cooking!

love.