What really makes this recipe special is the garlic bread crumbs. I know there are a lot of people with very strong feelings about breadcrumbs, say less, you can treat this as a stove top mac n’ cheese and skip them.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 13 x 9-inch casserole dish. Bring a stock pot of water up to a boil. Once at a boil, salt the water.
To make the seasoned breadcrumbs, sauté garlic in clarified butter for 1-2 minutes. Add Panko and cook until golden brown. Once breadcrumbs are cooled, mix with shredded Parmesan cheese and season to taste.
Make a white roux by melting the butter in a Dutch over over medium high heat. Then add the flour and cook until pale yellow, about one minute. You need to cook the raw taste out of the flour. Add the milk and cream and whisk until it naps the back of a spoon. Add in the cheddar cheese, spices, and kosher salt. Set aside while you cook the macaroni.
Cook your macaroni until al dente, about eight minutes. Strain and add the cooked macaroni to the cheese sauce and season the whole thing to taste one more time.
Pour into casserole, add Panko topping and bake until golden brown and bubbling on a lined sheet tray, about 15 minutes. You just want the bread crumbs to brown. If you cook any longer, the mac n’ cheese may become dry.
