French onion macaroni and cheese

This is some serious comfort food - cheesy, creamy, and buttery. The flavors of French onion soup wrapped up in some noodles and extra cheese. 

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I've seen some similar recipes floating around on the internet for a while now and have been itching to make this mac n' cheese. I wanted to incorporate as many flavors from French onion soup as I could, but I also wanted to keep this meal vegetarian - so I didn't use any beef broth. It turned out pretty amazing. 

The super sweet onion intertwined with the cheesy pasta was perfect. I used Gruyere cheese, but I combined it with sharp white cheddar so that it was not over powering (and affordable -- Gruyere is pretty pricey and pungent). 

Thyme, vermouth, and buttery breadcrumbs pulled in a lot of the soup flavors I was looking for in the dish. The result was a decadent pasta dish that we thoroughly enjoyed.

This recipe will feed 4 to 6 people as a main dish (feel free to make a nice green salad for the side) or make some delicious lunch leftovers.

French onion macaroni and cheese
1 lb. short-cut pasta of your choice
unsalted butter and extra virgin olive oil
4 medium-large sweet yellow onions, peeled and thinly sliced
2 teaspoons dried thyme, divided
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons dry vermouth, or other dry white wine
1/3 cup breadcrumbs
2 tablespoons unbleached all-purpose flour
1 garlic clove, minced
2-1/2 cups milk
4 oz. Gruyere cheese, grated and divided
4 oz. extra sharp white cheddar cheese

In a cast-iron or other large oven-safe skillet, warm 2 tablespoons of butter and 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Add the onions. Cook on medium-low heat, stirring only occasionally, until the onions are caramelized, about 30 minutes. Stir in 1 teaspoon of thyme, a good pinch of salt, a couple grinds of black pepper. Then stir in the vermouth and deglaze the pan. Set aside.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Bring a large pot of salted water to boil and cook the pasta until just under al dente. Then drain.

Melt 1-1/2 tablespoons of butter and place in a small bowl. Toss with the breadcrumbs and set aside.

In a medium pot, warm 2 tablespoons of butter. Whisk in the flour and cook for 2-3 minutes. Stir in the garlic and cook until fragrant. Whisk in the milk. Cook over medium heat stirring often until the milk thickens. Remove from the heat and whisk in half of the Gruyere and all of the cheddar until melted. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Remove about 1/3 of the onions form the skillet and set them aside in a bowl. Toss the pasta in the skillet with the remaining onions. Then stir in the sauce until well combined. Top with breadcrumbs, reserved cheese, 1 teaspoon of thyme, and the remaining onion.

Bake until golden and bubbly, about 20 minutes. Serve hot.