The kids are back in school! Whoot whoot! Errr…I mean I’m so sad to see them go 😉

The day before the kids went back to school, we had an impromptu pool party at my father-in-laws house. Impromptu, in that we planned it all the evening before, after fishing for an invitation and promising to bring dinner 🙂 As it turned out, the whole family was able to make it and it turned into a great end of summer/back to school celebration.

My contribution to the event was a crab and shrimp mac n’ cheese. It was a recipe that I had tried making back in the winter, but hadn’t had a chance to perfect or take proper pictures of. Ordinarily, Mac n’cheese wouldn’t be my go-to dish on a hot summer day, but in this case there is a perfectly reasonable explanation. A few days before our last minute get-together, I received a text message from my sister-in-law with a special request:

Being a devoted mac n’ cheese lover, I completely understood her out-of-nowhere desire to have mac n’ cheese. I did, however, take exception with the blue cheese and kale. Firstly, blue cheese has never been my favourite. I think it’s one of those things that you either love or you hate. I’ve tried it many times and, when it comes to blue cheese, I’m definitely a hater. Secondly, I figure if you’re committed to eating mac n’ cheese, you may as well make it as rich, creamy, deliciously unhealthy as you like. Save the kale for the next day in case you feel a little guilty.

To honour my sister-in-laws request, here is my recipe for crab and shrimp mac n’ cheese. I hope you enjoy it as much as she did 🙂

2 tbsp butter

1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1/2 Cup onion, diced

2 cloves of garlic, minced

2 tbsp cooking sherry

1 Cup chicken stock

8 oz cream cheese, cut into cubes

1/2 Cup asiago cheese, divided

250g crab meat

250g shrimp

1/2 Cup green onions, sliced

375g macaroni noodles

1 Cup sliced almonds, slightly toasted

Bring a large pot of water to a rolling boil. Add the noodles and cook according to package directions, until they are al dente. Strain and set aside.

In a saucepan, heat the butter and olive oil together. Add the onions and garlic and saute for a few minutes until just beginning to sweat. Stir in the sherry, allowing a bit of it to cook off, then add in the chicken stock. Bring the stock up to a simmer and begin adding in the cream cheese. Stir or whisk until it’s melted into the sauce and no lumps remain. Next, add 1/4 Cup of the Asiago cheese. Stir until it’s melted into sauce. Finish the sauce by adding in the crab and shrimp and cook until just heated through.

Pour the sauce over the macaroni. Add the green onions and stir gently, then pour the pasta into a 9″x13″ baking dish. Sprinkle with the remaining Asiago cheese, followed by the almonds.

Heat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Place the dish in the oven to bake for about 10 minutes until the cheese topping has melted and the almonds have toasted.