Penne with Goat Cheese, Ham and Sun Dried Tomatoes from Melt!
Mac n cheese. The ultimate comfort food.
Many of us grew up eating mac and cheese. Mac and cheese brings back a lot of happy memories to this, used to be, very chubby kid. It really was comfort food for me.
I’ve written a few cookbook reviews now and this one is a special one. Melt is special, not only because this is a superb and innovative cookbook and focuses on one of my favorite foods – but also because I got to meet Garrett McCord, one of the authors.
We met at 
Loaded with a Spanish goat cheese, this dish does not disappoint. The ham and the sun-dried tomatoes, “two other signature Spanish ingredients” add just the right flavor and texture. This was really delicious. I was going to change it up just a bit and add some dijon mustard into the cream sauce but I decided to stay true to the recipe and followed it exactly. I’m so glad I did. Garrett and Stephanie created a really easy, quick, brilliant and absolutely delicious dish here. My sister, brother-in-law and I gobbled this up. Down to the very last bite. It was amazing.
A few notes:
- If you can’t find
Penne with Goat Cheese, Ham and Sun Dried Tomatoes from Melt
Alternative cheeses: Ibores, Twig Farm Goat Tomme, Bardwell Farm’s Equinox Wine pairings: Txakoli, Catalonian white wine, Grüner Veltliner Additional pairings for the cheese: fig jam, picholine olivesIngredients
- 8 ounces penne
- 1 pound Garrotxa shredded
- ¼ cup milk
- ½ cup crème fraîche
- 1 tablespoon butter
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground white pepper
- ½ cup chopped sun-dried tomatoes
- 6 ounces Serrano ham slices torn coarsely by hand into chunks
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375°F.
- Cook the pasta in salted boiling water until al dente. Drain through a colander. Set aside.
- In a saucepan, combine cheese, milk, crème fraîche, and butter. Cook over medium-low heat until cheese is mostly melted and you have a creamy sauce. To keep the cheese sauce from breaking, remove the sauce from the heat before the cheese is entirely melted. Season with pepper, adding more to taste if you like.
- In a shallow buttered casserole dish, toss pasta with sun-dried tomatoes and Serrano ham. Pour the sauce over the pasta, then stir together until combined. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until the top is golden brown and bubbling around the edges. Serve immediately.
Melt came to me at just the right time. I’m now here in Wisconsin, America’s Dairyland, and will be trying every single different kind of cheese I can get my hands on and we are just about to experience our first real winter so I’ll be all about mac and cheese and all kinds of comfort food. I will definitely be cooking my way through this cookbook and enjoying every last bite. Melt. “This is macaroni and cheese all grown up.”
Word up.
For this amazing RECIPE, head on over to Cooks and Books and Recipes. And to read my review of this cookbook, which everyone should buy immediately, click here.
AND if you’re looking to WIN a copy of MELT, check out this giveaway by the authors themselves! One winner will be selected and announced on December 15th, 2013. Cheers! And thanks to publisher Little, Brown, and Company, Cooks and Books and Recipes is giving away a copy of Melt: The Art of Macaroni and Cheese to one lucky Cooks&Books&Recipes reader. Be sure to enter the giveaway HERE.
Thank you so much for this lovely review! 🙂
Stephanie,
oh my goodness. . you and Garrett have something wonderful here. . everyone is going to love this cookbook. It was an honor to be able to review it. I’m not kidding when I say I am going to be cooking my way through this. So impressed. Seriously love this cookbook.
I could eat this for days Alice! Pasta is one of my staples (along with delivered empanadas these days….lol!), and adding goat cheese, ham and sun dried tomatoes is just too many things I love together. An awesome recipe! And I probably have all the ingredients in my fridge already!
Paula,
you simply MUST make this. Today!!! It’s delicious. . and buy this cookbook!!! 🙂
I only started to like goat cheese last year, but I now love it! This looks perfect!
Holy cheesy goodness, Alice! A cookbook for mac n cheese? I want it!!!! This goat cheese penne looks especially superb! How awesome that you got to meet the author. Thanks for this great review….. I think this is a book I need on my shelf! : )
Anne, enter the giveaway! There are 2!
I entered!!! Fingers crossed!!
Hooray!!
What a cool coincidence! And omghumboldtfogwithgrilledpeachesandorzo you’ve got to be kidding me!
Stephanie and Garrett were at Book Larder on Tuesday. They whipped up avocado mac and cheese using Beecher’s Flagship. Amazing! Can’t wait to flip through my copy of Melt and try some recipes soon.
Definitely a delicious winner for the whole family!!