Six Cheese Skillet Mac and Cheese

I'm sorry.  You don't want me to share this recipe with you, but I can't help it.  You would like to live in a world where macaroni and cheese contains a respectable one or two cheeses.  We can't go back to that world.  I can't, anyway.  I now live in a world in which this dish holds a whopping pound and a half of cheese.  I like this world.

Blame the rain.  I woke up yesterday, and it was raining.  I went to work, and it was raining.  I came home, and it was raining.  So when I started dinner, I wasn't in the mood for the intended lentils and quinoa.  No, this was no time for health food.  This was the time for carbs and fat.  Bubbling over a skillet, forming a perfect golden crust. 

The inspiration for the skillet as a baking dish came from a new pub in Berkeley.  (The inspiration for six different cheeses came from my own genius.)  I went out for drinks on Friday evening, and a friend ordered mac and cheese that came in a (mini) skillet.  Brilliant, I thought.  You can simply make the cheese sauce in the skillet, bake it right in the skillet, and, besides the one pot for boiling the pasta, you just have one dish to wash.  Because you really won't feel like doing dishes after this meal.  Maybe do yourself a favor and serve with a side of salad.

Six Cheese Skillet Mac and Cheese
Serves 4 to 6, but only if those 4 are linebackers

1 lb pasta (I used rigatoni)
1/2 t olive oil
5 T butter
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 c flour
2 c milk
24 oz any cheeses, shredded (I used 8 oz mozzarella, 8 oz Gruyere, and 2 oz each of Parmesan, asiago, fontina, and provolone) 
salt and pepper
1/2 c bread crumbs (optional)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Boil water, and prepare pasta, under-cooking by about 4 minutes.

Heat a large skillet over medium heat.  Add olive oil and butter, and wait until butter has melted.  Add garlic, and saute for 30 seconds.  Whisk in flour, cooking for 2 minutes, or until roux is formed.  Slowing add milk, whisking continuously, and cook for another 3 minutes.  Add cheese and stir until mixture thickens into a smooth sauce.  Season with salt and pepper.

Add pasta to the skillet, and stir to coat evenly.  You can top with bread crumbs at this point, but I figured that was a little overkill.

Bake for 35 minutes.  Top will be golden and bubbly.