Lobster Macaroni and Cheese

Lobster macaroni and cheese is a decadent way to take your Christmas entertaining to the next level. I’ve teamed up with ALDI stores for the holiday and I’ll be bringing you more fantastic recipes and ideas like this, to make your home entertaining special!

I’ve got so much to tell you about today. Things that have been in the works for months and are finally coming to the forefront, and this recipe is a small part of it all.

I’m so excited to be working with ALDI stores this Christmas season, after the food and wine party I did for them earlier this year. I’ll be sharing holiday entertaining ideas over the next few weeks that are easy to execute, and incorporating lots of specialty items {and great buys} from ALDI. But that’s not all! I’m popping up in their holiday catalog with home entertaining tips sprinkled throughout, too.

To kick things off, ALDI brought a group of bloggers to Chicago a couple of weeks ago for a fabulous test kitchen event. We were treated to a store tour with background information on the business model, a blind taste testing similar to what they do when choosing which products to sell, a cooking demo with recipes, we made hostess gift baskets, and we sat down for a holiday meal featuring ALDI’s recipes of course. It was all fabulous and this lobster macaroni and cheese is one of the dishes we were served.

This dressed up version of mac n’ cheese is a delectable way to add a little surf to your turf dinner at Christmas time. After eating it on the ALDI trip I knew I wanted to make it at home and share the recipe. It’s rich and cheesy, and the addition of lobster and bacon make it something special. Specially Selected Maine Lobster Tails* are available at ALDI beginning 12/16 along with a variety of other Premium Special Buys! If you want to make it year round you can certainly make it without the lobster also.

Lobster Macaroni and Cheese

• 3 cups Reggano Elbow Macaroni
• 8 slices Specially Selected Hickory Smoked Thick Sliced Bacon, diced
• 1 onion, diced
• ¼ cup Baker’s Corner All Purpose Flour
• ½ cup Winking Owl Chardonnay
• 1 cup SimplyNature Organic Chicken Broth
• 2 cups Friendly Farms Heavy Whipping Cream
• ½ cup Priano Parmesan Cheese Wedge, Shredded
• ½ cup Priano Asiago Cheese Wedge, Shredded
• ½ cup Happy Farms Shredded Sharp Cheddar Cheese
• ½ teaspoon Stonemill Essentials Garlic Powder
• ¾  teaspoon Stonemill Essentials Iodized Salt, divided
• ¾ teaspoon Stonemill Essentials Ground Black Pepper, divided
• 2 8-ounce packages Specially Selected Maine Lobster Tails, removed from shell and chopped*
• 4 tablespoons Countryside Creamery Unsalted Butter, divided
• ½ cup Chef’s Cupboard Plain Bread Crumbs

Preheat oven to 375°.

Bring a pot full of water to a rolling boil and cook macaroni for 6-8 minutes. Drain, rinse with cold water and reserve in the refrigerator.

In a heavy bottomed stock pot on medium low heat, cook bacon for 8 minutes. Add onions and sauté until bacon is fully cooked and onions are tender. Add flour and stir to make a roux. Cook until roux turns light golden brown.

Stir in wine and cook for 4-5 minutes. Add chicken broth and heavy cream and bring to a light simmer.

Combine shredded cheeses, slowly whisk cheese into sauce until thoroughly melted. Add garlic powder, ½ teaspoon salt and ½ teaspoon pepper. Reduce heat to low, keep warm.

Season lobster with remaining salt and pepper. In a large sauté pan, melt 2 tablespoons butter on medium-high heat. Saute seasoned lobster for 3-4 minutes or until cooked through.

In a large bowl, combine cooked lobster and macaroni and cheese sauce and stir to combine.

In a small mixing bowl, melt remaining 2 tablespoons butter in the microwave and fold bread crumbs into melted butter.

Transfer mixture to a 9×11-inch casserole dish and top with bread crumb mixture. Bake at 375° for 7-10 minutes or until bread crumbs are golden brown.

Here’s a time-saving tip for you. You can cook the lobster tails in the oven the day before {follow directions on packaging} and keep refrigerated until ready to dice and mix into your macaroni and cheese mixture.

To make the holiday presentation extra special, bake individual portion sizes in small crocks or ramekins so each guest gets their own.

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As I mentioned above, I’ll be highlighting some of ALDI’s Special Buys for the season as I share more posts. I hope you have a store near you because the prices are really fantastic! You can save up to 50%** on your holiday shopping list at ALDI where you can find a selection of fresh, high-quality seasonal items at great prices. Some of my personal favorites are the selection of cheeses and charcuterie, the prices on meat and seafood {Specially Selected scallops, lobster tails, smoked salmon}, and their packaged cookies and treats for the holiday {like tins of cookies and flavored popcorn}.

I can’t wait to share more. Stay tuned!

*Available while quantities last. All products may not be available in all stores. Prices subject to change.

**Based upon price comparison of comparable products sold at leading national retail grocery stores.

This post is part of my partnership with ALDI stores, for the holiday. Compensation was provided but all opinions are my own. See how I work with brands here.

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