Mac and Cheese with Broccolini and Pork Meatballs

Some friends invited me to their rental cabin at Okemo for New Years Eve this year. It was the first time I got a chance to snowboard this season, so I was really excited to go! I wanted to cook at his place, but I knew I would be exhausted after a long day on the mountain, so I prepared this dish the night before at home and just threw it in the oven when we were ready to eat. The ingredients in this came from the fact that pork and cooked greens are good luck to eat on New Years Eve, but the broccolini was actually supposed to be broccoli rabe. I’m not a superstitious person, so I didn’t care. I don’t need good luck, I make things happen!

Meatballs first.

The broccolini broken down into small pieces.

Yum. I made these mini so they would be closer to bite sized in the pasta.

The start of the sauce, this is the making of the roux.

All the ingredients ready to be mixed into the pasta.

The sauce. So tasty!

Yum. I wanted to eat it right away, but I had to wait 24 hours.

Here we are at the cabin. I baked this for about 40 minutes at 400.

So good.

Sauce
8 oz gruyere
8 oz cheddar
8 oz jack
2 oz Parm
3.5 cups milk
4 tablespoons butter
4 tablespoons flour
1/2 onion
4 cloves garlic
Herbs de provence
crushed red pepper flakes.

Put the butter on medium heat with a splash of oil. Add the onions and sweat 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook 2 minutes. Add the flour and mix well. Cook stirring often for 3 minutes. The flour should darken slightly. Add the milk and whisk. Mix in the herbs and red pepper flakes. bring to a simmer. Reduce heat. Add the cheese slowly, whisking to melt and combine.

Meatballs
1 lb pork
handful parsley
1 bunch scallions
2 ribs of celery
2 cloves garlic
2 slices of wet bread

chop and mix all ingredients. Make mini meatballs and broil for 7 minutes, flip, and broil 5 more minutes.