BAKED SHRIMP MACARONI WITH BECHMEL SAUCE

Super easy pasta recipe that I love so much. It calls for combining béchamel sauce, shrimps with grated cheese, then stirring in just-cooked pasta. What’s nice about this recipe is its versatility. It works beautifully as both a creamy stovetop dish with any sort of mix-ins you like, and as a crunchy baked mac ‘n’ cheese sprinkled with panko breadcrumbs. 

However  I skipped the panko breadcrumbs instead I sprinkled with lots and lots of cheese. Wonderfully great for quick meal.

Baked Shrimp Macaroni with Bechmel Sauce

INGREDIENTS

For the béchamel:

4 cups (1 quart) whole milk

8 tablespoons unsalted butter (1 stick)

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

2 tablespoons kosher salt

For The Pasta

Kosher salt

1 pound elbow macaroni

3 cups cheddar cheese (about 3 cups)

1 cup mozeralla cheese

2/3 cup panko (optional)

For The Shrimps

250 g shrimp, shelled and devine

1/2 cup button mushroom halved

3 cloves garlic chopped

2 tbsp lemon juice

green onion

pinch of maggi chicken cube

salts and pepper

2 tbsp butter

INSTRUCTIONS

For the shrimps

Melt butter in large skillet on medium heat. Add garlic sautee for a salts and pepper; cook and stir 3 to 4 minutes or just until shrimp turn pink. Stir in lemon juice. Set aside.

For the béchamel:

Heat the milk in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat until it just comes to a simmer, then turn off the heat and set aside.

In a large, heavy-bottomed saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the flour and whisk constantly until the mixture turns light brown in color, about 3 minutes. Remove from the heat.

While whisking constantly, slowly add the hot milk to the flour mixture until evenly combined and smooth. (It will get very thick when you first add the milk, then thin out.)

Return the saucepan to medium-high heat and while whisking constantly, cook until the sauce thickens and coats the back of a spoon, about 2 to 3 minutes. Stir in 1 tablespoon of the salt, taste, and add the remaining salt as desired. Remove from the heat and set aside.

For The Macaroni

Bring a large pot of heavily salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the pasta and cook until it’s almost al dente (just on the edge of being underdone), then drain and rinse with cold water; set aside. 

To Assemble
Place the pasta in the casserole bowl, add in the shrimps and pour over the bechmel sauce. Sprinkle with the balance cheese and bake until bubbling and brown on top, about 25 to 30 minutes.