Four Cheese Baked Skillet Rigatoni. {Video!}
Oh friends.
Someone did something… foolish.
This foolish thing that someone did, well… was to swing by Starbucks in the airport last night at – get ready for it – 7PM. You know, this certain someone who doesn’t drink coffee? But decided that since she went to great lengths to get a big, drippy ice cream cone this weekend and nearly bawled after each attempt failed, that a deliciously frozen white chocolate mocha frappuccino would suffice? Oh, as dinner too. Yes, that would suffice as dinner.
Very wise this person is.
Soooo now it’s like 2AM and this someone is wide awake and bouncing off the walls which is just fabulous because her cumulative amount of sleep over the last six days is probably somewhere around 12 hours. Oh and this is after her massive jitter attack on the plane when she started to have cold sweats like crazy and go weak in the knees since her last meal was ten hours before and mainly composed of mimosas and even though caffeine alllllllways does this to her she assumed !this time would be different! because she developed magic powers or something.
I’m about to punch myself in the face. Or ingest a bottle of Nyquil. Or maybe both? Because I’m pretty sure that would knock me out. But but but I don’t want it to wipe away my memory of the last six hours because the highlight of my life occurred tonight when the man next to me on the plane asked me if I was “coming back to Pittsburgh from my college spring break.”
Ummm no I’m not nice man but thank you for transporting me back eight years. What tipped you off? Was it my dirty hooded sweatshirt? My broken out face? My hair piled on top of my head and my overall general dirtbag appearance that resembled every Friday and Monday morning of my collegiate years?
This was all great and good and wonderful especially after he asked me for the second time “so you’re really not in college?”… only to tell me five minutes later that he is having retina issues and his vision is so blurry that he can barely see 6 inches in front of his face clearly. Ah well.
Who wants some mac and cheese? I would have to say definitely me, if only for the hopes of falling into a food coma because if you haven’t realized it yet, I’M WIDE AWAKE in the middle of the night.
And now I’m just hungry. By the way, do you even KNOW what kind of infomercials are on TV at this time? What?!
Since everything is ten thousand times better when it comes out of a cast iron skillet, you should absolutely drop what you’re doing and make this. If you recall, we are quite enamored with lobster mac and cheese and while I’ve been making a version of my own for years, the minute my husband took a cheesy bite of these baby rigatonis he deemed the recipe the “closest to Capital Grille’s lobster mac” he’s tasted.
While it’s lacking in lobster, the texture and consistency of the sauce came out nearly identical to one of our favorite treats. Because of the mascarpone’s high fat content, the dish will accumulate a bit of oil, but if you’ve ever had said lobster mac, you know this is a common feature. I chose to use these adorable short and fat mini rigatoni noodles, but you can certainly play around with a few other pastas if you wish. Just make sure you have a big skillet for this amount of sauce + pasta (mine is over 13 inches in diameter) or have a baking dish on hand to catch the overflow and simply bake the rest.
Then just… devour it. And sing me to sleep when you’re done?
Four Cheese Baked Skillet Mini Rigs
Ingredients
- 1 pound mini rigatoni pasta
- 1 shallot, sliced
- 2 garlic cloves, minced or pressde
- 1/2 teaspoon olive oil
- 5 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1/4 cup flour
- 2 cups milk
- 1/3 cup mascarpone cheese
- 8 ounces freshly grated gruyere cheese
- 8 ounces freshly grated sharp cheddar cheese
- 8 ounces freshly grated fontina cheese
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1/3 cup panko bread crumbs
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Grate cheeses, placing them together in a large bowl. Boil water and prepare pasta according to directions, cooking for 3-4 minutes less than called-for time.
- Heat a large oven-safe skillet over medium heat. Once hot, add in olive oil and butter, then throw in shallots with a pinch of salt. Stir to coat and cook for 2-3 minutes, until soft. Add in garlic and cook for 30 seconds. Add flour to the skillet then whisk constantly to create a roux. Let cook for 2-3 minutes until golden brown. Pour in milk, stirring continuously for another 1-2 minutes. Add in mascarpone and almost all of the grated cheeses, reserving about 1/2 cup of the grated cheese. Stir continuously until mixture thickens, about 3-4 minutes. Season with salt, pepper and nutmeg, then tasted and season more if desired. Add pasta to the skillet and toss thoroughly to coat.
- Sprinkle the top of the mixture with remaining cheeses and breadcrumbs. Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until top is golden brown and bubbly. Serve immediately.
Notes
Did you make this recipe?
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242 Comments on “Four Cheese Baked Skillet Rigatoni. {Video!}”
I hope you have the chance to sleep IN this morning and that you scheduled this post to publish. If not, I’m very very sorry. I hope you had a nice trip!
OMG!!! This looks like my fondue recipe with pasta! Who could be happier than me????????????? Except maybe you cuz you get to eat it and I have to go to work :(
I hope you get lots of sleep tonight (or are sleeping in today!)
Your dish looks fantastic and so delectable! I have never had mascarpone cheese, but I need to try it, you put it into so many dishes! Happy Monday to you!!
Oh my dear goodness. You are one lovely, cheesy-making woman.
I hope you are sleeping right now!! :) This looks amazing!
Oh my cheese! This looks gloriously and gluttonously good and it must be quite the treat after hefting around that 13-inch skillet full of this stuff (!!) My rotator cuff aches just thinking about it.
That thing is so stinkin’ heavy.
Sorry you’re having issues sleeping. :( But obviously your lack of sleep is doing something wonderful to your brain, because this looks delicious! ;)
I make that same mistake and think “oh one small cup in the late-afternoon will wear off by the time I go to bed” – and then I lay there with my heart racing and wishing I didn’t do that…AGAIN. This looks great!
You must have read my mind because last night my husband and I were both talking about how we NEED real mac n cheese… oh my!
this is awesome. i’m so glad we’re friends. well sort of. ok well not really, but i think your blog is awesome so that kind of counts.
i still carry my college ID and use it to get discounts at the movies sometimes.
Haha that DEFINITELY makes us friends.
Oooooh, want.this.now.
Been there, done that. It’s not pretty. This, however, is very pretty. I pretty much ate my body weight in macaroni and cheese on Saturday night but it didn’t look anywhere as rich and decadent as this.
I see that you are already awake this morning. Go back to bed! :)
This was just the laugh that I needed this Monday morning…and the pasta looks amazing!
Oh my goodness. You are not good for my diet. This looks absolutely PERFECT.
You might serve in a bowl, but I will take mine in a (very) large nice plate. Or directly from the skillet :) Looks “no-words” awesome.
omg. just wait until we meet this summer. I still get, “so are you graduating the big high school this spring?” Riiiight.
I’m in love with this food.
Thats a great looking Mac and Cheese dish, so rich and tempting…… If I could only grab a bowl of that :)
Sorry to hear about your sleep issues. Hope u get a change to sleep well today….A warm cup of milk works for me
LOL you are hilarious! I hope you manage to find some way to get to sleep – maybe a mac and cheese coma would do the trick? I just happen to have a cast iron skillet that hasn’t been used in far too long… time to resurrect it I think!
Yuuuuuuuuum!!! you’re making me huuungry! hahaha
What a way to wake up as I do my morning check of my favorite food blogs. I have to say…your photos are beyond amazing. I want to just dive into that forkful of yumminess. I am thinking this might have to be dinner tonight.
Hope you are able to get some sleep today!
What a fantastic cheesy skillet of yum.
I am too afraid to try and figure out how much fat/cholesterol/calories are in this, but I may just have to buy a cast iron skillet just to make it.
So much for dieting! I love cheese too much.
I want this. Like…now.
Soft kitty, warm kitty, little ball of fur…..happy kitty, sleep kitty, purr, purr, purr! (Did it work?)
Now I want me some of that mac ‘n’ cheese, it looks awesome!!! xx
This looks absolutely amazing! I can’t wait to try it! :)
I’m sorry that you are sleep deprived, but I’m excited that you posted this recipe this morning! OMG- I have a box of that mezze rigatoni in my pantry, and I know just what I am doing with it! Thanks, Jessica. Now go back to sleep! :-)
hahahhahaha….don’t you love when someone gives you a compliment and then pretty much completely back tracks on it? Wonderful. Sorry about the jitters/slack of slack….I haven’t made mac and cheese in so long and these version looks spectacular
Ahhhhh. I just got those same blue splotchy bowls from Anthro! Love them! I would have kissed that little old man for telling me that! haha! Although, i did get told by a co-worker of mine that I was most definitely the youngest person at work, possibly 18. Yea, try I’m the oldest person of all my co-workers at 24! Oh, oh, and I graduated from college 2 years ago! Not highschool.
So much oil and cheese and breadcrumbs! Delicious? Yessss! That’s all I’ve got :)
Welcome back my dear! I NEED that cute blue crackled bowl. NEED. And that cheesy goodness? Pretty sure I need that too.
Oh mah gah, this looks so comforting, I just wanna jump in for a swim!! YUM.
This looks incredible!! SO cheesy and wonderful!
Hope you had a great time in Orlando!
Being on an Easter fast that doesn’t allow dairy…this pretty much just killed me. Aaaand is now bookmarked to be made for the DAY after Easter.
OH. MY. GOSH. we are OBSESSED with Capital Grille’s Lobster Mac… so I will definitely be making this!!!! Maybe throw in some pieces of lobster?? yes. please. PS- SOOO great to meet you this weekend!!! :)
I feel so old because I avoid caffeine for many reasons – the biggest being that it gives me headaches. I use to be able to consume it without problem when I was in school… I won’t say how long ago that was. :) I want this mac n cheese in such a serious way. I still need to get some cast iron skillets, I’m just clueless about what sizes I really need or want.
I’ve never had Capital Grill’s mac, but who needs lobster when you can eat this??? Seriously, my mouth is watering.
These pictures…dear Lord. Help me. :-)
Sorry about your lack of sleep…and it wasn’t even newborn baby induced. Hope you get some ZZZsss soon. Your trip pics have looked fabulous.
And I also am coveting that crackled birds egg blue little bowl. So pretty!
My main goal in life now that I’m 26 days out from hitting 30 (not that I’m counting or anything) is to get carded when buying alcohol now. So far I’m 0 for 3 this year. I need a half blind airplane seatmate to boost my spirits.
Like Chelsey said, I really hope you scheduled this and got some sleep!
I so would’ve loved to be there to enjoy your wide awake hyperness in the middle of the night. Especially with a bowl of this.
Ohh this is the perfect comfort food :) Nice and buttery and delicious!
I hope that Starbucks at least tasted good enough to justify the insomnia :)
Good Lord, woman. I need that for breakfast immediately. Now. Hand it over.
this looks insane.. only you would think of cooking it up in an iron-skillet because you’re right, the taste is a 1000 times better! You’re brilliant! Love!
oh. my. goodness. this looks so amazing. beyond amazing. yum!
This looks fabulous…I’m a sucker for mac and cheese. And I agree that everything tastes better from a cast iron skillet – I love mine! Get some sleep!
Can I make this without baking it? Would it turn out ok? I know, I know…but I really like my mac & cheese without bread crumbs and crunchiness on top.
It should be fine – the sauce may be slightly thinner than if you baked it, but it should be okay! Maybe cook the pasta a little longer before adding it too.
I’m putting dibs on that piece that’s falling off the bowl. Seriously, this looks so good I could eat it for breakfast right now.
I think I could die happy eating this, and only this for the rest of my life!