We are making one of my husband Jay’s favorite mac and cheeses. You can put any kind of seafood in this dish. Today I am using fresh local shrimp with scallops and topped with a crab cake crumble to finish it off. It’s rich and creamy.

Give It A Try


Ingredients

  • 1 pound of pasta – elbow, penne, rigatoni
  • 5 tablespoons of butter – use approximately 1 tablespoon to cook your shrimp and scallops in
  • Olive oil – drizzle to help sauté
  • 6 crab cakes – cook according to instructions. I used the Member’s Mark (Sams) crab cakes. They are awesome. If you care using lump crab meat you will cook it like the shrimp and scollops
  • 1 lb of shrimp
  • Scallops – 12-16 small ones (or more! we love scallops)
  • 1 teaspoon Old Bay Seasoning. You can also add a 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes or Cajun seasoning to give it a little bite
  • 3 tablespoons of flour to help thicken our cheese sauce
  • 2-3 cups of milk. I start with 2 and then add the third if my sauce needs to be richer or if it looks to dry
  • 1 cup of heavy whipping cream
  • 2-2 1/2 cups of shredded sharp cheddar cheese
  • 1 cup of shredded mozzarella
  • 1/2 – 3/4 shredded parmigiano reggiano cheese. Don’t use just the parm cheese. This particular blend of cheese adds so much depth to this dish
  • 4 ounces of cream cheese if you want it to be extra creamy
  • 1 teaspoon onion powder
  • salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

  1. Cook your pasta according to the instructions on the box or bag
  2. If you are using premade crab cakes, cook them according to the instructions
  3. Heat your skillet or saucepan to a medium heat. Add your butter and a little bit of olive oil
  4. Sauté tour shrimp first. Don’t over cook them. they are done as soon as they turn pink. About a minute or two, remove to a bowl
  5. Sauté the scollops in the same pan. again don’t over cook. Just a little browned on both sides. About 2-3 minutes, remove to the same bowl as the shrimp

Cheese Sauce

  • Add the rest of the butter to the same skillet/sauce pan
  • After it melts add the flour -whisking the whole time and add it a little at a time so it doesn’t clump
  • Add milk and heavy cream, slowly and continue to whisk
  • Add half of the shredded cheese and the cream cheese. Stir this until it is all melted
  • Add the onion powder, salt and pepper to taste
  • Add the seafood back to the pot – NOT the crab cakes

Let’s Put It All Together

  • In a 9×13 casserole pan, lightly grease with some olive oil
  • Layer the pasta first then a layer of the cheese sauce/seafood
  • Continue this until you use it all up
  • Top with your crab cakes that you will crumple over the top
  • Bake for about 30 minutes at 350 degrees watching that the crab cake crumble does not brown too much

ENJOY!!