A wonderfully decadent mac and cheese spiked with delicious spicy 'Nduja pork sausage is topped with delicate sweet scallops, crispy breadcrumbs and gratinated Gruyere cheese.
The ultimate comfort food
There’s nothing more enticing and comforting than a nice bowl of warming mac and cheese. Robust and powerful in flavour and meltingly gooey and creamy in texture. Grilled and served piping hot with bubbling browned cheese and crisp breadcrumbs, for many, it’s a must-have comfort meal.
A traditional mac and cheese is also a very simple dish to prepare. The first recipe was recorded back in medieval Great Britain in a cookery book called Forme of Cury. Originally it was known as makerouns where hand-cut pasta was sandwiched between layers of butter and cheese and the recipe hasn’t altered much since then. Except for the modernisation in methods to create the little bent pipe shapes of macaroni, it still only requires the pasta to be cooked in boiling water, drained and combined with a cheese sauce and baked.
The perfect cheese sauce for ‘Nduja mac and cheese
Typically, mornay sauce is used which is a traditional béchamel white sauce with added cheese. Most recipes call for Cheddar, although Gruyere, Havarti, Gouda or Jarlsberg are good substitutes.
A good cheese sauce can pair well with a multitude of dishes and as such there are numerous embellishments and extra ingredients you can use to give your macaroni cheese a bit more of an extravagance. Gammon and cheese sauce was a classic in the 80s and notably, kitsch with the addition of a pineapple ring, a jalapeno chilli cheese sauce is amazing with nachos and beef chilli, and smoked haddock with poached egg and cheese sauce or any fish mornay to that respect is irresistible. All the ingredients in these dishes are great for enhancing a traditional mac and cheese.
Coquille St Jacques twist
However, there is another classic French dish that has a suitable and indomitable elegance that is perfect to intertwine with macaroni cheese and that is the great and timeless Coquille St Jacques. Actually the French name for a scallop, it is synonymous with the dish it is perhaps most famous for whereby it is served in a rich white wine and cheese béchamel sauce and grilled, not too dissimilar to mac and cheese. This is certainly where decadence can be added to what would otherwise be a simple cheesy pasta.
Adding depth with wine and poached scallops to ‘Nduja mac and cheese
The difference in the cheese sauce with a Coquille St Jacques is that white wine is incorporated into the béchamel sauce. Firstly the scallops are poached in the wine to give extra flavour and the wine is then added to the roux (butter and flour) before adding the milk and thickened. The acidity of the wine would split the béchamel sauce if added at the end. The result is a more luxurious, velvety textured sauce with a richness and sweetness supplied by a good dry white wine and the poached scallops. A drop of cream sherry or brandy can also be a nice addition especially if you are making this for a special occasion.
To give this dish more of an identity by itself rather than just macaroni cheese with added scallops, we’ve sought inspiration from other scallop dishes too.
You often see these tasty morsels paired with a rich or salty meat, often a bacon or pancetta or a highly flavoured sausage such as black pudding, chorizo or ‘Nduja. Any one of these would work well with the pairing of some scallops, but thinking of another match made in heaven for cheese and that is chilli cheese, the choice of a spicy ‘Nduja just makes sense.
Why ‘Nduja is the perfect addition to mac and cheese
‘Nduja, an Italian spicy spreadable sausage made with pork meat and trimmings with a hot and spicy hit of Calabrian chilli peppers which is then smoked, is just the perfect ingredient to embellish this macaroni cheese. In Italy, locals traditionally pair it with bread and cheese, so it ticks that box. As it’s Italian, it also prevalent in pasta dishes, tick!, and also it has been suggested that it has evolved from the French andouille sausage, hence the name, so introducing it to a French Coquille St Jacques dish works well too, tick!
How to make our ‘Nduja mac and cheese
To prepare our ‘Nduja mac and cheese, boil your macaroni in well-salted water for about nine minutes and then drain off the water and set the pasta aside
For the cheese sauce, we use the preparation technique used in a classic Coquille St Jacques.
A chopped onion is added to some hot olive oil in a pan to sweat until softened. Next, we add a good spoonful of ‘Nduja which just melts in with the onions turning it an alluring beautiful burnt sienna colour. At this point, if you want to add a dash of brandy or sherry whatever you prefer for that added decadence you may associate with dinner party food, then use this to deglaze the pan until it has visually disappeared, it won’t of course be all gone, it will have left a wonderful powerful flavour infusing with the onion.
The wine contingent is next.
A nice dry wine with a full flavour is recommended so the sauce remains rich. Bringing the liquid to a simmer will remove the strong alcohol flavour and be the perfect temperature to poach the scallops which will remain tender when poached for only four minutes. Once this is done, remove the scallops with some tongs and set them aside for later. Strain the contents, set aside the liquor and discard the chopped onions. This poaching liquor is now rich and full of sweet, smoky and spicy flavours and slightly boozy.
Smoky, spicy, cheesy béchamel
Next, make the roux by melting salted butter in the pan and whisk in the flour to cook it out. Pour in the reserved liquor in and stir with a whisk. It will thicken almost instantaneously, it is at this point to add the milk to then create a smooth velvety béchamel. The last stage for the sauce is to add some grated cheese. Although you can use the aforementioned cheeses, it is highly recommended to use a good mature cheddar. It is a mac and cheese after all and there is something about a mature cheddar that just has the right flavour profile of a classic earthy yet tangy cheese that can’t be beaten.
The ultimate golden ‘Nduja mac and cheese
It’s now time to start assembling the dishes to then bake until golden brown. Add the pasta to the sauce and stir well then decant equally into oven-proof dishes. Arrange the scallops on top and scatter a good handful of Gruyere cheese over the top. Gruyere is a good cheese for gratinating. We already have the flavour of cheddar through the sauce so introducing Gruyere which is also a homage to a classic Coquille St Jacque works well as a fusion of both recipes. Dot a few pieces of ‘Nduja around for an extra splash of colour and spice and finally dust over a tablespoon of breadcrumbs for that distinct crust you’d find on a traditional mac and cheese. Before serving, simply place them under a hot grill for four to five minutes until they are bubbling and browned.
More tasty pasta dishes
Prawn Bisque Pasta with Harissa
Impressive Crab and Shrimp Pasta - Easy + Delicious
The Best Moroccan Lamb Mince Lasagne with Feta Cheese
Latest recipes
'Nduja mac and cheese with scallops recipe
Ingredients
- 150 g of macaroni
- 1 small onion chopped
- 120 g or 8 medium sized king scallops
- 125 ml or a ½ cup of dry white wine
- 3 tablespoon of ‘Nduja sausage
- 50 g of salted butter
- 3 tablespoon of white flour
- 250 ml or 1 cup of milk
- 65 g of grated cheddar cheese
- 40 g of grated gruyere cheese
- 2 tablespoon of panko breadcrumbs
Instructions
- Bring a pan of salted water to a rolling boil and add the macaroni to cook for 8-9 minutes. Drain and set aside.
- Pour some olive oil in a frying pan with a knob of butter and bring to heat so that the butter starts to bubble. Add the chopped onion and sauté for 2-3 minutes. Add 1 tablespoon of the ‘Nduja sausage and stir through the onions for another 1-2 minutes until fully softened.
- Pour in the white wine and bring to a gentle simmer then add the scallops to poach for 4 minutes.
- Using tongs or a slotted spoon, remove the scallops and set aside. Sieve the poaching liquid into a jug and set aside and discard the onions.
- Put the empty pan back on the heat and melt the butter. Once starting to foam, add the flour and whisk to incorporate. Pour in the reserved poaching liquid and whisk to ensure it stays smooth. Pour in the milk and continue to stir for a further two minutes or until the sauce has thickened. Add the cheddar and stir until fully melted and take off the heat.
- Add the cooked macaroni into the cheese sauce and thoroughly stir. Divide the macaroni cheese in equal portions into oven-proof serving dishes and arrange the scallops equally on top followed by the gruyere cheese. Crumble over the rest of the ‘Nduja and a dusting of the panko breadcrumbs.
- Place under a pre-heated grill/ broiler at 240℃/475°F and gratinate for 4 minutes or until nicely browned and bubbling.
Leave a Reply