Mac & Cheese with Red Pepper Volcano with Dinosaur Trees

"Dinosaur trees are what some of our fans call broccoli flowerettes." - Livvy



All of us here at Spatulatta were excited when we got the invitation to participate in the Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board's 30 Days 30 Ways with Macaroni and Cheese.

We chose to cook with Carr Valley 5 -year Cheddar. The wheels of cheddar are dipped in wax and allowed to rest for 5 years. During that time the flavor gets more and more concentrated.

Carr Valley also makes 12-year old Cheddar--that means there are cheeses that are as old as Livvy.

Macaroni and Cheese with Red Pepper Volcano and Dinosaur Trees

Serves 8

Ingredients:
1 pound macaroni elbows
3 tablespoons butter, plus extra for the pan
2 tablespoons of flour
2 cups milk
2 teaspoons garlic powder
1/2 cup yellow onion, grated or very finely diced
2 cups Wisconsin Carr Valley Cheddar Cheese, shredded and divided
2 cups Wisconsin Carr Valley 5-year Cheddar, shredded
1 cup broccoli flowerettes
2 sweet red peppers

Directions:

Start by bringing a large pot of water to boil over medium-high heat. Preheat the oven to 350 F.


When the water comes to a boil, add the macaroni. Cook according to package directions, then drain and set aside.


Butter the bottom and sides of a 13x9-inch baking pan.

Melt 3 tablespoons butter in a medium saucepan over low heat; whisk in the flour to make a roux.

Cook the roux over low heat; stirring constantly. The butter will make frothy bubbles and go from yellow to golden brown in color.


Add milk, garlic powder and onion. Mix and continue to cook over low heat.

Add 1 cup of Cheddar into the milk mixture and stir until the cheese melts. Don’t let it boil. Reserve 1/2 cup cheese sauce.


Put the cooked macaroni into the buttered pan.





Sprinkle the remaining 3 cups of Cheddar over and mix.

Reserve about 1 cup of the macaroni and Cheddar mixture and set aside to fill the red pepper volcano.


Pour all the cheese sauce, except the reserved 1/2 cup, over the macaroni and cheese mixture; gently stir. This reserved sauce will come into play later, when we assemble our volcano.


Into the oven it goes! Bake about 20 minutes or until bubbly and some of the edges begin to brown.

You may need a little adult help getting the casserole out of the oven, because the steam coming out of the casserole will be hot enough to burn.



While the macaroni and cheese is baking, lightly steam the broccoli, about 4 minutes. You want these "dinosaur trees" to be bright green and still a little crunchy so they will stand up when you assemble the volcano.


Cut off the stem end of one red pepper and make a 1 inch hole in the other end. Remove any seeds from inside. This is the volcano cone. Dice the remaining red pepper into 1/4-inch squares.



When the mac and cheese comes out of the oven, it will be super hot. So be careful!



Microwave the reserved macaroni and cheese and fill the red pepper cone. Be careful so the hot mac doesn't come out of the hole at the bottom and burn your hand.



Place the filled red pepper with the small opening side up in the middle of the macaroni and cheese. Carefully, push the broccoli "trees" into the macaroni and cheese around the pepper volcano to form an island around the volcano.

Sprinkle the red pepper squares around the volcano to be the red hot "cinders." Reheat reserved cheese sauce over low heat until it is smooth and melted.



Pour cheese sauce over the volcano so it looks like molten lava.



And there you have it! A beautiful volcanic island in a sea of mac and cheese.



We can't wait to dig in, but the macaroni and cheese is very hot. Way HOT — but so yummy!