Bechamel Mac and Cheese

While we were in California last week wedding planning we hit a great restaurant in Old Town called the Public House. My mom had this awesome bechamel, fontina cheese, and broccoli macaroni dish. I have literally been thinking about it ever since and all I had was a few bites. So, this is a copy cat of that dish. 

Ingredients for the Bechamel:

5 tablespoons butter

4 tablespoons all-purpose flour

4 cups milk

2 teaspoons salt

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Other ingredients:

Fontina cheese - about 2 cups

1 head of broccoli - I used about half, Mike hates cooked broccoli!

Bread crumbs

1/2 box of macaroni

Cook the macaroni and drain when it's done. For the bechamel sauce, melt the butter and then add the flour and whisk together until smooth, cook on medium low heat until it turns a golden brown color. Add the milk, and continue stirring until the mixture boils, and gets nice and thick. Set it aside. Cut the broccoli, and steam it in the microwave with a little bit of water and salt for about a minute. Ditch any remaining water and place the broccoli in a large mixing bowl. Grate the cheese, and add it to the mixing bowl. Then add the cooked noodles and the bechamel sauce. Stir it up until it's well mixed, and pour into a ceramic baking dish, top with the bread crumbs.

Bake at 375 until the bread crumbs are nice and golden brown - about a half hour.

Viola! Dinner!