Pick pasta for scrumptious New Year's supper

If you’re seeing the new year in with a party, nothing’s simpler or more delightful than pasta: Easy on the hostess — and always welcomed. Follow are a few selected suggestions. Enjoy!

The “original” macaroni and cheese was created by a French chef with Bechamel sauce! The crumb topping is special: one needs a loaf of heavy white, unsliced bread — like French or Italian loaves. This old treasure is great for a crowd and incredible! Add ingredients according to the number of guests.

Macaroni and Cheese

(For 6-8 people)

8 tablespoons real butter

6 tablespoons flour

½ teaspoon cayenne

Salt, fresh ground pepper to taste

3 ¾ cups hot milk

4 cups grated Cheddar

1 pound short macaroni, cooked

½ cup heavy cream

½ cup fresh bread crumbs (scraped from center of coarse loaf with fork tines)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Melt 6 tablespoons of the butter in a medium saucepan over medium- low heat. Add flour and cook, stirring constantly with a gravy coil or small whisk, 3-4 minutes or till sauce is smooth; (flour must foam as it cooks so make sure heat is just right). When smooth, whisk in hot milk, ½ cup at a time, and cook whisking constantly until sauce thickens. Reduce heat to low and stir in 2 cups of the cheese; continue to cook, stirring until cheese melts, about 2 minutes more.

Combine pasta and sauce in a large bowl and season to taste with salt. Sprinkle ½ cup of the remaining cheese over the bottom of a buttered 8x11-Inch baking dish. Put 1/3 of the pasta in the dish, top with ½ cup of the cheese, then repeat, layering pasta and cheese, ending with cheese, making 3 layers in all. Pour cream over all. Melt remaining butter in a skillet over medium-low heat; add bread crumbs. Coat with the melted butter then sprinkle evenly over mac and cheese. Bake until crust is golden, about 30 minutes. Allow to rest for 15 minutes before serving.

Moving on to the more basic pastas, our next recipe is — as I mentioned in an earlier column — worthy of entertaining an ambassador; but if you can afford it (or have — as I do, a son in Alaska) — go for this sublime dish.

King Crab Fettuccini

(For 4 — enlarge as needed)

2 or 3 King crab legs, heated in oven or in boiling water till warm through; flesh removed and cut into bite-size pieces

2 tablespoons real butter

2 tablespoons flour

1 cup half-and half

½ cup heavy cream

1/3 cup shredded Parmesan cheese

6-ounce pkg. fettuccini, cooked, drained, covered

1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh parsley leaves

In heavy saucepan, melt butter, stir in flour till creamy; gradually stir in half and half, stirring with gravy whisk till well incorporated. Mix in heavy cream, then stir in Parmesan. Cook and stir on low heat till smooth. Fold in crab meat, stir and heat about 3 minutes. Add fettuccini into the sauce, lifting and mixing gently till well incorporated. Pour onto a platter in into pasta bowl and top with the parsley. Serve immediately.

Note: You can, if you wish, substitute large steamed prawns or tender chunks of smoked salmon; read on for another possibility.

For a Crowd — Cook a large pot of thin spaghetti or linguini to al dente, drain lightly and return to pot: salt to taste, drizzle with just enough fine olive oil to keep separate, cover and keep warm. Have on hand with tongs for guests to fill their own plates and top with the King Crab mixture or the following suggestions:

Seared Scallops with

Lemon Beurre Blanc

2/3 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice (Meyer lemons if possible)

1/3 cup dry white wine

3 tablespoons minced shallots

2 thyme sprigs

3 tablespoons chilled butter, cut into pieces

¾ teaspoon sugar

¼ teaspoon ground black pepper, divided

Olive oil

1½ pounds sea scallops

1½ teaspoons snipped fresh thyme leaves (optional)

Combine juice, wine, shallots and thyme sprigs in a small heavy saucepan over medium –high heat; bring to a boil. Cook until reduced to about ¼ cup; remove from heat and discard thyme sprigs. Add butter, 1 piece at a time, whisking constantly, until all butter is thoroughly incorporated. Strain mixture through a fine sieve over a bowl, pressing to release all of the sauce. Discard solids. Stir in the sugar, ¼ teaspoon salt and ¼ teaspoon of the pepper.

Heat a large cast iron skillet over high heat; coat lightly with olive oil or cooking spray. Sprinkle both sides of scallops with remaining salt and pepper and add to pan. Cook 2 minutes; turn over and cook 1 minute or till desired degree of doneness (too much will make them tough). Toss with the sauce add a serving ladle and let guests help themselves to the prepared pasta and top with the scallops in beurre blanc.

Our illustration of roasted mussels is easy to achieve: Here’s how:

Roasted Mussels with

Almonds and Garlic

5 pounds mussels

½ cup natural whole almonds

8 garlic cloves

¾ cup packed flat-leaf parsley leaves

1 ½ cups dry white wine

6 tablespoons butter

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Scrub mussels well, remove beards. Finely chop almonds and toast on baking sheet in oven until golden, about 4 minutes. Mince garlic and chop parsley. In large ovenproof kettle (cast iron is great) combine mussels, garlic, parsley, wine and butter and season with pepper to taste. Roast uncovered in middle of oven, (stirring once halfway through) 15 minutes or till mussels have opened. Discard any which did not open. Add almonds, tossing to combine. Place in chafing dish to serve over pasta. Robust spaghetti is best for this dish.

Happy New Year!

Valle Novak writes the Country Chef and Weekend Gardener columns for the Daily Bee. She can be reached at bcdailybee@bonnercountydailybee.com