Hubby's Gourmet Mac and 5 Cheese

My hubby and I ate at our nearby TGI Friday's recently and decided to try the Gourmet Mac n' Five Cheese, which was winner of the Food Network's Ultimate Recipe Showdown for comfort food. It contains blue cheese, which Hubby does not care for, but I told him he probably would not notice it as a separate flavor, so he trusted me and ordered it. It was served with sliced grilled chicken breast, and we absolutely loved the dish.

Over the weekend, he downloaded the recipe from Food Network and prepared it using the cheese we had on hand - fontina, gruyere, parmesan, provolone, and smoked gouda - and penne in place of macaroni (just like Friday's). He painstakingly followed the recipe and while the casserole was baking, he grilled the chicken.


It was excellent! We thought the cheese sauce needed that extra boost that the blue cheese and white cheddar would have provided, so next time we will add those to our shopping list. We also had to add an extra sprinkle of salt.

I managed to capture three photos before we gorged ourselves.