The Cooking Critic

Macaroni and cheese isn’t something I’d typically serve as a meal to a friend, but Shahan Sannossian caught me on a strange day. I had planned on making him a homemade tomato soup, but my stomach was bothering me and didn’t like the thought of a meal composed nearly entirely of acidic tomatoes. My stomach much preferred the thought of the always-comforting mac and cheese. Of course, you can’t just dump a box of macaroni in a boiling water and call it dinner (at least when company is involved), so I figured out a way to make it presentable.

I used Trader Joe’s Aged White Cheddar Macaroni and Cheese for my Fancified Macaroni and Cheese and included prosciutto, cooked spinach, white asparagus (though green asparagus is prettier and broccoli also works well), tomatoes, bread crumbs and cheese—I used white cheddar on one effort and Asiago on a second. And I’m going to include this in the vegetarian category since it’s easy enought to leave out the prosciutto. The recipe looks long, but that’s only because I have instructions for deseeding and deskinning tomatoes in there, which is not nearly as laborious at it sounds but does take a small paragraph to explain. Be sure to add or subtract any ingredient that suits your fancy.

Assessment: I can’t really assess the Trader Joe’s product on its own since I always add a ton of stuff to it, but it makes a great base for my Fancified Macaroni and Cheese. Shahan liked it and said he would even make it himself. And he’s a boy. Everyone knows that boys don’t cook, so that’s a solid endorsement. I’d like to thank the Academy and Williams-Sonoma Simple Recipes for the inspiration.