Tangy Blue Cheese and Creamy Fontina, tossed with Cajun Steak and fresh pasta make this one of the tastiest and hearty Mac & Cheese dishes you will ever have! It’s mouthwatering delicious!
Funny, but not so funny, and very embarrassing story about the comings of this mac & cheese. So if you’ve been following along for any length of time, you’ll know how we were living in a hotel for five months. (Thank God that’s over.) Well, since all I had were two little burners and a very small room, the smallest bit of smoke would set off the fire alarms. Plenty of people in our building did it all the time, but I managed to make it the first 4 1/2 months of being there without the alarms going off. Until this mac & cheese.
The ventilation was awful in there. When I cooked the steak, it smoked. Not bad, but you know, enough for a small hotel room. Well on an army base, (or probably at any hotel), if the alarms go off, the firemen come. A whoooooole lot of them. And since it was the middle of the day, no body else was there except for me, my kids, and a few housekeepers.
Needless to say, when the firemen showed up, there was no question about who set off the alarms. Then they had to go into our room, after evacuating us from the building, and step over the obstacle course of toys that my kids had every where, to ‘air it out’. It wasn’t even that bad.
But the entire encounter was so embarrassing, I was afraid to use the stove the remainder of the day.
Thank goodness I got over that fear quick, fast, and in a hurry though! Because this Black and Blue Mac & Cheese. Holy mac! (pun intended) As I’m typing this, my husband is asking me to make it again. Easily, one of the best mac & cheese dishes we’ve ever had. He said it first, about 349 times, before I finally agreed. Mouthwatering. I couldn’t stop eating it, right from the pan.
The Cajun spice on the steak and in the cheese sauce, gives this dish the most incredible kick! The creamy cheese sauce, including blue cheese, make it a bit tangy and perfect. It’s so hearty, comforting, and absolutely mouthwatering. Make it.
There are never enough GREAT Mac & Cheese recipes! 😉 Huge thanks to Rachel and Brandy for hosting this super fun and insanely mouthwatering Mac & Cheese Mania! Be sure to go link up, (clicking on their links!), your best Mac & Cheese recipes for a chance to win some amazing prizes!
You don’t have to have a blog to enter for a chance to win Door to Door Organics Gift Cards, OXO Gift Baskets, Zak Designs Prize Pack, a year’s supply of Cabot cheese, a Vermont Creamery gift basket, a risotto kit from Marx Foods, Barilla pasta, Anolon Advanced Bronze 4.5 Qt. Tapered Stockpot, Rachael Ray Stoneware Casseroval, Wusthof CLASSIC Studio Block Set, Microplane Graters and Kitchen Tools, a SavorX Starter Block with spices and Le Cordon Bleu by Swissmar oven to table roasters.
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Tangy Blue Cheese and Creamy Fontina, tossed with Cajun Steak and fresh pasta make this one of the tastiest and hearty Mac & Cheese dishes you will ever have! It's mouthwatering delicious!
Ingredients
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 2 teaspoons garlic powder
- 2 1/2 teaspoons paprika
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1 1/4 teaspoon oregano
- 1 1/4 teaspoon thyme
- 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- 1 pound flank steak
- 4 teaspoons of the Cajun spice mix, divided
- 1 lb pasta shells
- 5 Tablespoons olive oil, divided
- 1/2 cup chopped yellow onion
- 4 1/2 Tablespoons flour
- 2 1/2-3 cups Milk (I used 2%)
- 9 ounces freshly shredded fontina cheese
- 6 ounces blue cheese
- (Optional: 2 slices of bread, pureed into crumbs, or 1 cup panko)
- Optional, fresh parsley, minced
Directions
- To make the Cajun mix, combine all the spices together and mix until evenly combined
- Take your flank steak, and slice into strips, about 1/2-1 inch thick. Sprinkle both sides of the strips with about 3 teaspoons of the Cajun spice mix and set aside.
- In a large pot, boil water and cook pasta according to the instructions on the box. Drain and set aside.
- In a large skillet, heat 1 Tablespoon of olive oil over medium-high heat, cook the sliced steak strips, 2-3 minutes on each side. Remove and set aside.
- In a large saucepan, heat 4 Tablespoons olive oil over medium-high heat.
- Add the onion and cook until translucent, about 4-5 minutes.
- Whisk in the flour, and cook until bubbling, about 2 minutes.
- Pour in the milk, starting with 2 1/2 cups, and heat until steaming.
- Add the fontina and blue cheese, and stir until melted. Add 1 teaspoon of the Cajun spice mix. (If the mixture seems too thick now, (before even adding the pasta), add an additional 1/2 cup of milk, you don't want it to be overly thick, because once you add the pasta, the cheese sauce will thicken up the longer you let it sit.)
- Add the cooked pasta and stir until completely coated. (If you didn't add the milk previously, and you think it's starting to stick to the pasta TOO much, you can add milk here in 1/4 cup increments, and heat up over low heat, tossing occasionally.
- Chop steak strips into 1/2"-1" pieces and add to the mac & cheese. Toss to fully incorporate.
- Serve and top with panko or bread crumbs and fresh parsley. Enjoy!
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