Lobster Cauliflower Mac n' Cheese

One of my favorite restaurant dishes is Lobster Mac n' Cheese. The creaminess of the cheese sauce with the crunch of the crumb topping and chunks of fresh lobster is delicious! This recipe remakes my restaurant favorite by substituting cauliflower for the pasta and adding in lobster. I also offer a pork-free alternative crumb topping using Oregano Flavored Intakt Crunchy Cheese Snacks. If you’d prefer to omit the lobster then that’s fine, simply skip the steps that involve lobster, but adding lobster is well worth it!

Intakt Snacks has four flavors that are available on Amazon: Mozzarella, Spicy, Original, & Oregano

 
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This recipe makes 6 entree-sized servings. I baked mine in 6.5 inch cast iron skillets and used them as serving dishes.

Ingredients

Cheesy Cauliflower “Mac”

  • 1 cauliflower head, cut into smaller parts (think large noodle and mini-trees) - 10 cups of cauliflower 

  • 1/2 tsp dry mustard

  • 1/4 tsp Black pepper

  • 1 tsp garlic powder

  • 1/4 tsp onion powder

  • 1/4 tsp smoked paprika

  • 1/2 tsp sea salt

  • 1/8 tsp white pepper

  • 3 tbsp Poached Lobster butter (you’ll make it while cooking) or regular, salted butter

  • 1 shallot, thinly sliced

  • 1.5 cups heavy cream

  • 2 scoops Bone Broth Collagen (I use Vital Proteins or Ketologie)

  • 3/4 cup of stock (chicken, beef, or seafood)

  • 4 oz cream cheese, softened

  • 2 cups of smoked Gouda cheese (~.5lb cheese block)

  • 6 cups of mild cheddar or any cheese you'd prefer* (~1.5lb total cheese blocks)

  • 2 tbsp chopped parsley 

Note: You can combine any cheese that you wish. I use a mix cheddar and gruyere along with the smoked Gouda cheese. One thing that you should not omit is the smoked cheese. The flavor is essential to great “mac” and cheese.

 
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Butter Poached Lobster

  • 3 tbsp water

  • 1/2 cup salted butter

  • 4 garlic cloves, minced

  • 2 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped

  • 4 - 5 oz lobster tails, removed from shells (see video)

Crunchy Cheese Topping

  • 3 Bags of your favorite Intakt Snacks (I used Oregano) - this is about 1.5 cups of crunchy cheese

  • 2 tbsp Lobster butter, melted

  • 1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese (I get mine from the the refrigerated section in the market)

 
 

Directions

  1. Preheat your oven to 425 degrees

  2. Shred all of your cheese. I shred mine with the 360 Cookware Cutter

  3. Add cauliflower florets to a baking sheet and sprinkle them with olive oil, salt and pepper

  4. Roast the cauliflower for 20 minutes (or until lightly browned)

  5. Make the spice mix by combining the all spice ingredients from the dry mustard to white pepper. Set aside.

    Poach the lobster: Add water, butter, garlic cloves, and parsley to a small pan (I used 1 qt). Heat until the liquid is warm but not boiling. Add the lobster and cook in the butter for 2 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and set the pan aside.

  6. Heat a stock pot (I used 6 qt.) to medium heat

  7. Add the butter and shallots to the stock pot and sauté until translucent (~2 minutes)

  8. Add heavy cream, bone broth collagen, and stock to the pot. Use a whisk to incorporate the collagen (~3 minutes)

  9. Add the cream cheese and spice mix and whisk until it’s fully incorporated

  10. Add the shredded cheese and allow to melt (this is the cheese sauce)

  11. Add the roasted cauliflower to the pan and use a spatula to mix into the cheese sauce. Turn off the heat to the pan.

  12. Make the crunchy cheese topping by adding all ingredients to a food processor

  13. Chop up the lobster into chunks. Add the chunks to the cauliflower Mac and cheese. For presentation, I chose to chop half of the lobster tails & save the others for the tops of the dishes.

  14. Add the entire cauliflower and cheese mixture to the a baking dish (or use mini cast iron skillets)

  15. Top with the crunchy cheese topping

  16. Bake until the crunchy cheese topping is golden (~15 minutes)