Greenwell Mac-n-cheese
This Mac-n-cheese is a meal, full of vegetables and different meat that perfectly complement each other and all the cheese!
My favorite restaurant is the Green Well. If you are from Grand Rapids and you haven’t been there, I’m sorry!
Here’s the scoop I got my slimy hands on my absolute favorite thing on the menu at the Green Well. It’s their Mac-n-Cheese, and this isn’t any ordinary mac-n-cheese or moe-Key-cheese as one little girl I know used to say.
Like I said it’s not your standard, my kids balked a little bit, however once they gave it a try there were some serious ooohs and aahhhs around the table.
It does exceed the 5 ingredient limit, as far as easy goes, but once you do the prep it’s so easy a monkey could do it.
Seriously…..
It’s a recipe you can really make your own if you want, use left overs take out or put in what you like. So feel free to mess with it. The Green Well roasts their own chicken, beautifully I might add, but I just bought mine at the store already roasted. Easy! Here’s how you do it!
Green Well Mac-n-Cheese
Equipment
- 1 large skillet
- 1 pot for cooking pasta
Ingredients
- 1 cup diced ham
- 4 slices bacon cooked and cut into pieces or crumbled
- 2 cups roast chicken, shredded I use a store bought roasting chicken.
- 2 cups sliced, mini portobello mushrooms whatever you have on hand will work
- 2 cups snow peas
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes
- 1/2 tbsp minced garlic approximately 2 cloves
- 1 tsp fresh thyme leaves
- 1/2 cup shredded monterey jack cheese
- 1/2 cup shredded sharp cheddar
- 1/2 cup shredded Swiss cheese
- 4 ounces cream cheese
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream
- 1/2 pound cavatappi ridged pasta pasta with ridges hold on to the cheese sauce
- 1/4 cup fresh basil chiffonaded
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- boil noodles, per box directions (al dente=not too done) and drain, reserve 1/2 cup of the pasta water
- fry bacon, while that’s frying dice your ham and pull your chicken add chicken, bacon and ham into large skillet oven medium heat, to heat through.
- Add mushrooms about 3 minutes until mushrooms start to brown add tomatoes, peas, thyme and garlic cook for a minute until garlic warms up and tomatoes start to pop.
- Add all the cheese to meat and vegetables, pour in heavy cream allow about 30 second for cheese to start to melt then with a big rubber spatula, fold together, being careful not to break up tomatoes.
- add in cooked noodles and basil gently stir to coat, if it seems to thick or gloppy add in pasta water a little at a time until you get the perfect consistency.
- taste and add salt if needed, I find I do not need to add salt because of the salty bacon and cheeses, however I do add a few cracks of fresh ground pepper.
Nutrition
1. boil your noodles….al dente=not too done, reserve 1/2 cup of pasta water, then drain noodles.
2. fry up your bacon, while that’s frying dice your ham and pull your chicken then throw it all in the pan with the bacon to warm up a bit while you prep your vegis.
**Prep is key in this recipe because once you start cooking it you just basically throw it all together. So you want all your stuff ready!
3. Mince up your garlic, you can use one of those squeezer thing-a-ma-jigs if you have one or a knife works good too. Get your basil and thyme out there and ready.
4. get your cheeses all together and ready to go
5.wash up your tomatoes and snow peas. You can cut your now peas in half, I left mine whole, clean off mushrooms and slice them chunky.
NOW are you ready? It’s gonna go fast.
6. Over medium high heat cook up your meats, and mushrooms about 3 minutes until mushrooms start to brown a bit.
-now throw your tomatoes, peas, thyme and garlic in give it just a minute
-add in cheeses, give them guys a second to get acquainted
-pour in that heavy cream (you can use milk, but cream is better), move that around with a big rubber spatula, careful not to break up the tomatoes.
Turn off the heat and throw your noodles in and fold them in to coat with all that yummy sauce, add pasta water if you need to loosen up the cheese sauce.
Voila! There you have it! Not quite as good as the Green Wells, but a close second. They use truffle oil to finish theirs off. I am sure that is why theirs is better. I kinda want the Green Wells to stay better, a girls needs a reason to eat out once in a while!
Hope you try it, enjoy!
Sheila
I made it! Yummmy!! I did have to omit the swiss and double the Jack cheese cuz my kids say that swiss smells like butt and refuse to eat it, but it was still yum.
I doubled the recipe and it was ALL gone that night!! (we had some help from Jod and Nate)SANKS for the recipe!!!
Oh wow, I got chill bumps from reading this post. I am so trying this for next Sunday supper. My daughter and I will devour this as pasta and fresh veggies are our vise. The hubby will turn up his nose, but oh well….more for us! Thanks for posting this recipe. I am no where close to Grand Rapids, so my loss, till now.
Yummylicious…I'll get the recipe and try to cook that food….The foods makes me hungry right now….
restaurant wells me
If you stop by Demetria, pick me up first!
I wish you would post what you where going to cook 1st…then I conveniently stop over while you where cooking for a taste (or perhaps a plate). Man, that one looks good. You should post this on Tasty Kitchen Blog. I know, I know, I am giving you more to do….
What is next? Blog readers want to know….
Okay- that looks really yummy!!!
That looks fabulous and a big thanks for all your colorful photos in your earlier post! The photo of you at the top is how I am feeling! I need to go out and buy some flowers.
I think I'll try this one too! It sounds yummy!! Thanks Sheila!
This sounds fantastic – definately on the got to try list!