This Leek and Chard Mac and Cheese is my take on a dish I tried a few months ago at one of my new favorite restaurants in San Francisco called Shuggie’s Trash Pie. Their “Leek-y Cauldron” is this incredible cheese fondue that uses all parts of the leek, leafy greens that are a little sad but very edible, and crispy shallots. They serve it in a little cast iron vessel alongside some homemade garlic-y flatbread, and it just hits all the spots. It’s gooey, oniony (in the best way possible), packed with greens (every bite has some kind of leafy green!), and just fire.

I knew I needed to recreate something that would capture the essence of this dish, and this mac and cheese is a pretty damn good rendition. It’s quite a few steps, but still manageable for the home cook. Nevertheless, it’s definitely worth trying because I truly believe this might just be the best mac and cheese you’ll ever make.

leek and chard Mac and cheese in a bowl on a cutting board

Leek and Chard Mac and Cheese on a plate on a white kitchen counter

Private Chef Tips

Shred your own mozzarella cheese if you want a nice cheese pull. Pre-shredded mozzarella cheese is super convenient, but it won’t get you the nice smooth sauce you’re looking for, or that epic cheese pull. Tillamook thick-cut mozzarella is one exception, but it may not be easily accessible.
Taste as you go, and be sure to season every component of this dish. If everything you put together is nicely seasoned, you won’t have to end up adding so . Also, just note that if you THINK you’re adding a lot of salt, restaurants salt much more heavily.
Measure or “mise” out your béchamel sauce ingredients.
- The béchamel comes together really quickly, and you’ll want all your ingredients ready so you don’t accidentally let something burn or overcook.

Component Breakdown – Leek & Chard Mac and Cheese

Béchamel Cheese Sauce:

Béchamel is one of the 5 Classic French Mother Sauces, made from just flour, butter, and milk as the base. Here are a few basic things you need to know about Béchamel for this dish:

You need to bring the milk up to a boil before you begin to see any thickening occur. As soon as the milk comes up to a boil, whisk for a few seconds, then check to see if the sauce can coat the back of a wooden spoon.
Once thickened, you can remove the béchamel base from the heat. Use the residual heat to slowly add in the shredded cheese. The reason why you want to slowly add in the cheese is to prevent the sauce from breaking and for the fats and solids to separate.
The 2 types of shredded cheese used in this leek and chard Mac and cheese are mozzarella and parmesan. These aren’t typically very common in a Mac and cheese, but it’s perfect for this dish.
Do NOT walk away from your béchamel sauce. You all know how much I like to multitask when I can, but this is not the time to do so. This sauce is incredibly delicate. My biggest tip is to have all your ingredients ready before you start so you can keep an eye on the sauce the entire time. Continue to whisk when you add the milk, as the milk has the potential to stick to the bottom of the pan.

Pasta:

A traditional Mac and cheese uses elbow macaroni, but I like to use a mini (or Pepe) rigatoni. The pasta is cooked in heavily salted water, then drained and rinsed. It’s important to drain and rinse the pasta, as you want to stop the cooking before it’s tossed with the béchamel cheese sauce.

The Flavor booster:

The béchamel is the sauce that carries these flavors and ingredients throughout the leek and chard Mac and cheese. However, the leeks and chard make this dish stand out and what I think makes this the best Mac and cheese you’ll ever have. I sauté the dark green parks of the leek first, then add in the white / lighter green parts of the leek and the chard stems. The leeks add SO much flavor, and the chard adds nice substance to the Mac and cheese.

Crispy Topping

Top the Mac and Cheese with a delicious, crispy panko breadcrumb and parmesan cheese topping. It adds a great texture to the dish, as well as contributing to a nice overall finished aesthetic. You can make the crispy panko topping in a pan on the stovetop with just olive oil, panko, salt, pepper, and parmesan cheese.

FAQ

Why do I need to bake this after tossing together? Isn’t everything is already cooked?
- Finishing this in the oven creates a bubbly, melty texture that is absolutely necessary to enjoy this at its full potential. You can eat / sample it before it goes into the oven, but it’s 1000% better after it’s baked.
Can you freeze this?
- You can freeze 3 components of the dish:
  - The béchamel cheese sauce itself – the cheese sauce can be frozen and defrosted. It will keep the same cheesy and smooth texture after being frozen, defrosted, and reheated.
  - The assembled béchamel sauce tossed with the cooked pasta – Because there isn’t much moisture or water in this, the assembled béchamel sauce and cooked pasta maintains overall quality relatively well. If you want to pre-make this to store in the freezer for a later day, I’d recommend freezing like this. I would freeze without the panko breadcrumbs, as when this defrosts, it might get a bit soggy. When you’re ready to bake this, you can bake straight from frozen at 375 for 40 minutes, or defrost overnight and bake at 375 for 25-30 minutes.
    - If you want to top with the panko breadcrumbs, I’d bake straight from frozen so the panko maintains it’s crispness.
  - The final baked Mac and cheese – if you’ve already cooked off the Mac and cheese and still want to freeze a portion of it, you definitely still can. You can bake straight from frozen at 375 for 40 minutes, or defrost overnight and bake at 375 for 25-30 minutes.
What goes this go well with?
- Mac and Cheese is always a hit, feel free to pair with these other dishes:

video tutorial: Leek and chard mac and cheese

Leek and Chard Mac And Cheese

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Author: Jackie Shao
Total Time: 1 hour
Yield: 8 servings 1x

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Description

Leek and Chard Mac and Cheese is a gooey, onion-y, flavor packed dish will most likely be the BEST Mac and Cheese you’ll ever make!

Ingredients

Units Scale

3 leeks, both the green and white parts
2 bunches of chard
2 tablespoons neutral oil
Kosher salt
Black pepper
1 lb pasta (I used pepe rigatoni, but you can use elbow or any short grain pasta)

For the bechamel:

8 tablespoons of butter (one stick)
1/2 cup all purpose flour
8 cups whole milk
2 teaspoons kosher salt
8 ounces mozzarella cheese
6 ounces of parmesan cheese

For the topping:

2 tablespoons of olive oil
1 cup of panko breadcrumbs
Kosher salt
Black pepper
1/4 cup parmesan cheese

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Instructions

Bring a large pot of water up to a boil. When boiling, season the water heavily, then add the pasta. Cook according to the package directions, then strain and wash with cold water. Keep rinsing the pasta until it’s cool.
While you’re waiting for the water to boil, prep the leeks. Peel back the outer most layer of the leek (this is going to carry most of the dirt and be a bit tough). Wash the leeks, making sure to peel in between the layers and get all the dirt out. Leeks carry a lot of dirt, so this is an important step to ensure you don’t have any sand or dirt in the final dish.
Once the leeks are washed, thinly slice the leeks (I aim for as thin as possible, 1/16″). I separate the dark green parts and the white parts into different bowls.
Also prepare the chard – wash, thinly slice the leaves, and dice the stems.
Heat a medium sized pan on medium high heat. Add 2 tablespoons of olive oil and one cup of panko breadcrumbs. Continue to stir this for about 2-3 minutes, or until the panko begins to brown. Reduce the heat once you start to see some color, and continue to cook for another minute or so. Season with kosher salt and black pepper. Once the breadcrumbs are all golden brown, remove from heat and add in the ¼ cup of parmesan cheese. Set this aside on a plate to cool, and wash the pan.
Heat the same pan on medium high heat and add 2 tablespoons of neutral oil. Add the darker green sliced leeks, a pinch of kosher salt, and then give this a stir. Continue to stir this every minute or so to prevent burning. Cook for 5 minutes, then add the white / light green sliced leeks and the chard stems. Add a pinch of kosher salt and let this cook for another 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. After 5 minutes, add in the chard leaves, another pinch of kosher salt, and cook for 2 more minutes. Set this aside, and wash the pan.
Mise out all the ingredients for your bechamel. Shred the cheese, measure out the butter and flour, and measure out the 8 cups of milk.
In the same pan that you sauteed the leeks and chard, heat this pan on medium heat. Add the flour and butter and begin to whisk together. Cook for 3-4 minutes, and avoid any browning. Reduce the heat to low if you see that it begins to melt and brown quickly. Then, add the whole milk to the pan and bring this up to a boil. You can increase the heat, just be careful and continue whisking so that the milk at the bottom doesn’t begin to form a skin. Bring the milk mixture up to a boil (the sauce will not thicken otherwise), then turn off the heat. Add the shredded cheeses in 3 batches, making sure to mix in the previous batch fully before adding more. After adding all the cheese, season the bechamel with kosher salt (I used 1 tablespoon of kosher salt, but if you’re not using kosher salt, start with 1 teaspoon and taste and adjust from there).
Add the reserved leek and chard mixture to the bechamel. Give everything a mix, then add in the cooked and cooled pasta. Mix everything together, taste, and add more salt or pepper as desired.
Pour the mac and cheese into an oven safe dish or pan. I like to use a large cast iron.
Before serving, add the panko breadcrumbs to the top of the mac and cheese, and bake this at 400F for 20-25 minutes, or until nice and bubbly.
Serve, and enjoy!