Sometimes all you need to soothe the soul is a steaming hot bowl of pasta. To help you create the “most luscious of treats”, chef Nigella Lawson shared her take on a famous pasta dish – and it’s nothing like the traditional version.
In a repeat of Nigella’s Cook, Eat, Repeat on BBC Two earlier this week, the chef talks about the controversy surrounding “meddling” with classic recipes. She agreed – to a point. Nigella said: “But the thing is, if you love cooking, it’s just impossible not to want to play with ideas and flavours and, besides, mac and cheese – and yes, I have learnt to call it that, no longer macaroni cheese – lends itself to so many sumptuous versions.
“And I’m sorry to sound immodest, but my crab mac and cheese is the most sumptuous of all. And it is the perfect treat when you want to splurge on something special.”
Not only is it the flavours which are challenging tradition, but so is the pasta itself. Nigella opted to use conchiglie shells rather than macaroni itself, as to stick to a ‘marine’ theme.
When tasting her creation, Nigella said: “It tastes like the most fabulous dream of seafood fondue, which is a good idea.
“And, actually, I think this would make a wonderful hot cheese dip, the sort they have in the American south.”
Instead of bunging the mac and cheese in the oven, which Nigella described as “coarse treatment”, she adds a freckling of Aleppo pepper on top. She continued: “This is the most luscious of treats.”
When Nigella shared a snap of the dish on Instagram, fans rushed into the comments to share their praise. Jack commented: “Made this many times, superb recipe.”
Another wrote: “Could anything possibly be better?!! I think not! I haven’t made this one – very keen to try!”
Claire said, “I made this a few years ago, it was delicious! And fun preparing a crab for the first time,” while Liz agreed, “I have made this so many times – it’s a great prep ahead entertaining dish. Definitely not your ordinary Mac ‘n cheese!”
So if you’re looking for a luxurious pasta dish to comfort the soul, this is what you’ll need to recreate Nigella’s dish at home.
Nigella’s Crab Mac ‘N’ Cheese
Ingredients
- 100g Gruyere cheese
- 15g or 2 x 15ml tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan
- 15g or 1½ x 15ml tablespoons plain flour
- ¼ teaspoon ground mace
- ¼ teaspoon smoked sweet paprika
- ⅛ teaspoon Aleppo pepper or hot smoked paprika, plus more for sprinkling
- 250ml full fat milk
- 1 x 15ml tablespoon tomato puree
- 30g or 2 x 15ml tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 fat clove of garlic
- ½ teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
- 200g conchiglie rigate pasta
- 100g mixed white and brown crab meat (50/50)
Method
Grate the Gruyère into a bowl and add the two tablespoons of grated Parmesan. Mix the flour with the spices in a small cup.
Pour the milk into a measuring jug and stir in the tablespoon of tomato purée. Put a pan of water on to boil for the pasta.
Find a smallish heavy-based saucepan. Over a low heat, melt the butter, then peel and mince or grate in the garlic and stir it around in the pan quickly.
Turn the heat up to medium and add the flour and spices. Whisk over the heat until it all coheres into an orange, fragrant, loose paste; this will take no longer than a minute. It soon looks like tangerine-tinted foaming honeycomb.
Take off the heat and very gradually whisk in the tomatoey milk, until it’s completely smooth. Use a spatula to scrape down any sauce that’s stuck to the sides of the pan.
Put back on the heat, turn up to medium and cook, stirring, until it has thickened and lost any taste of flouriness; this will take anything from three to five minutes. Stir in the Worcestershire sauce.
Take the pan off the heat and stir in the grated cheeses. Put a lid on the saucepan, or cover tightly with foil, and leave on the hob, but with the heat off, while you get on with the pasta. If you have an electric or ceramic hob it may be better to take the pan off completely.
Add salt to the boiling water in the pasta pan, then add the pasta and cook according to the packet instructions, though start checking it a couple of minutes earlier.
When the pasta is just about al dente, add the crabmeat to the smoky cheese sauce, then once you’re happy that the pasta shells are ready, use a spider to lift them into the sauce or drain them, reserving some pasta-cooking liquid first, and drop the shells in.
Stir over lowish heat until the crabmeat is hot. If you want to make the sauce any more fluid, as indeed you might, add as much of the pasta-cooking water as you need. Taste to see if you want to add salt – the crab meat you get in tubs tends to be quite salty already, but if you’ve got yours from your fishmonger, it might need it.
Divide between two small shallow bowls and sprinkle with Aleppo pepper or hot smoked paprika.