Mango & Tomato: "French Onion Soup" Macaroni & Cheese: 30 Days, 30 Ways Macaroni & Cheese Blog

I was thrilled to be asked to participate in the 30 Days, 30 Ways Macaroni & Cheese Blog again this year.

Last year I created a Mexican Mac & Cheese, but this year's theme was to transform a well known dish into a mac & cheese recipe. While trying to think of something fun and creative, I remembered a recipe I made a while back which quickly became my brother's favorite: French Onion Soup Sandwiches.

Why not do something similar for this challenge? Although I've never made the actual French Onion Soup, I decided to use some of its ingredients in my macaroni and cheese dish: onions, Fontina & Gryer, and beef broth. I again used Robyn Webb's recipe as the starting point and the put my own spin on it.

Enjoy!

"French Onion Soup" Macaroni & Cheese
Serves 6-8

Ingredients

2 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons olive oil

6 cups thinly sliced onions {save the skins!}

Kosher salt

2 teaspoons dry thyme

2 3/4 cups milk

1/4 cup half and half

3 tablespoons cornstarch

4 cups low sodium beef broth

3 cups water

1 pound pipette pasta

1 1/2 cups shredded Fontina

1 1/2 cups shredded Gruyere

for the topping

1 1/2 cups fresh bread crumbs {I used a baguette for mine}

1 cup shredded cheese {use a combination of Fontina and Gruyere}

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 375F.

2. Heat butter and olive oil in a large skillet. Add onions, salt and thyme and saute for about 25 minutes or until the onions are golden brown and soft. Set aside.

3. In a saucepan bring to a boil 2 cups of milk and half and half, add onion skins, lower the heat and simmer for 20 minutes. Remove the onion skins.

4. In a small bowl, whisk together the rest of the milk and cornstarch. Carefully add the mixture into the hot milk and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and cook until the mixture has thickened, about 10-15 minutes.

5. Meanwhile, cook the pasta in the beef and water combination for 5 minutes.
6. Once the milk mixture has thickened, take it off the heat and add the cheese.

7. In a 2 quart baking dish combine cooked and drained pasta, the onions and the cheese sauce.

8. Sprinkle the pasta with the combination of bread crumbs and shredded cheese and bake for 30 minutes.