This rich and creamy macaroni and cheese appetizer from Rooted Rotisserie is a tribute to James Hemings, the French-trained personal chef of Thomas Jefferson who is often credited with bringing the dish to the United States. Formerly enslaved, he moved to Baltimore as a free man, refusing entreaties from Jefferson to follow him to the White House when the latter became president. Hemings’ too-often forgotten journey inspires Joe and Amanda Burton, the married owners of the homey, French-influenced Hollins Market restaurant, who keep his portrait behind the bar.

This recipe for trois fromage, as the menu labels it, calls for a whopping four-plus pounds total of shredded cheese — we used a food processor to do the heavy lifting for us. While the Burtons’ original recipe calls for blending the hot cream and cheese together in a blender, we chose instead to stir the cheese into the seasoned heavy cream while it was still on the stove to get a smoother consistency.

You can also try the recipe for Dutch Courage’s Brussels sprout salad, Foraged’s mushroom stew and Little Donna’s sausage and sauerkraut.

Ingredients

• 1 pound cavatappi pasta
• 1 quart heavy cream
• 2 pounds smoked gouda, shredded
• 2 pounds fontina cheese, shredded
• 1 cup grated Parmesan
• 1 tablespoon of granulated garlic
• 1 tablespoon granulated onion
• 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• Salt to taste
• 2 cups seasoned panko
• Olive oil to taste

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Bring a large pot of slightly salted water to a boil and cook the pasta until tender but slightly firm, about eight or so minutes. Drain the noodles and rinse slightly to remove some of the pasta starch and set them aside.
3. In a small pot, heat your heavy cream with all of the seasonings, whisking together. Once the cream has reached 150 to 160 degrees, turn the burner off.
4. Add the fontina and the smoked gouda to the hot cream mixture, stirring until melted.
5. Take a large bowl and mix the cheese and cream mix to your cooked pasta. Transfer to a casserole dish.
6. Level off the top and sprinkle all of your Parmesan evenly on top of the dish. Do the same with the seasoned panko and drizzle a little olive oil over the top. Bake in the oven at 350 degrees until slightly bubbling and golden brown, about 30 to 50 minutes.