Lobster Mac and Cheese - Perfect Comfort Food!

It's National Lobster Day! 

This week was a little busy! So much going on and not nearly enough time in the day to pull it all off.  Friday night calls for our go-to comfort food - Mac and Cheese. Not your average Mac and Cheese, but something just a little more special - Loaded with chunks of lobster mixed with ooey gooey cheese. Most Delicious!

Besides, it is National Lobster Day... good excuse for a celebration.

There are a ton of recipes out there, including my usual favorite from Ina Garten, The Barefoot Contessa, but last night I found a different version to experiment with from Coastal Living Magazine.
Here's their version!

Ingredients:

16 ounces macaroni pasta
6 tablespoons butter - divided
1/2 cup chopped finely red onion
2 large garlic cloves
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
3 cups whole milk, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups grated sharp Cheddar Cheese
1 1/2 cups grated Gruyere Cheese
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1/2 cup minced fresh chives
1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp. salt - divided
1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper - divided
1 pound chopped lobster meat (or langoustine tails!)
2 cups oyster crackers, crushed

Directions:
1. cook pasta until al dente, drain, rinse with cold water and drain again.

2. Place 4 tablespoons of melted butter in a saucepan over medium-low heat. Add garlic and onion, cook 5 minutes or until onion is softened. Here's also where I strayed from the recipe... used 1 chopped shallot and one sweet yellow onion and threw in some fresh lemon thyme leaves.

3. Whisk in flour, cook 1 minute. Pour in milk; bring mixture to a boil over medium-high heat, whisking and stirring frequently. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer 3 minutes or until sauce is smooth and thickened. Used 2 cups 1% milk (can't stand to have whole milk in our house) and 1 cup of cream left over from a recipe experiment last week. Made the sauce super rich and yummy!

4. Remove from heat, and whisk in cheeses and next three ingredients. Stir in 1/4 tsp of salt ( you may want more with seafood) and 1/4 tsp freshly ground pepper. I skipped the chives, used lemon pepper and added some more lemon thyme leaves.

5. Fold in pasta and lobster to your cheesy mixture. Pour into prepared (buttered or non-stick spray applied)  baking dish. I love my "magic" Le Creuset casserole dish - would highly recommend!

6. Combine crushed oyster crackers and remaining 2 T of melted butter. Stir in 1/4 tsp. salt and 1/4 tsp. pepper - sprinkle evenly over casserole. 

 
7. Bake at 375 degrees for 30 minutes, or until crust is crisp and sauce is bubbly.

A few things to keep in mind:
1. The Dijon mustard was FABULOUS in this recipe, do not skip.

2. Don't worry about having exactly the same cheese in the recipe, use up all of the little bits in your fridge. In our case, I used left over mozzarella,  a Mexican blend of grated cheeses, Gouda and the last of our Tillamook cheddar. A nice sharp Toscano would have been delish too.

3. I used lemon pepper and fresh lemon thyme just because I think those ingredients are such a great blend with seafood, and because it's what we had in our fridge! (forgot the chives)

4. Serve with a really good chilled Sauvignon Blanc or Chardonnay. 

Have a great weekend! 

P.S. Would be SO wonderful to serve this delish Lobster Mac and Cheese in actual lobster themed dinnerware....