With the 2020 Taste of EPCOT International Food & Wine Festival in full swing, I thought I would share some of my favorite dishes from this year’s festival marketplaces! This festival celebrates the best of global food and drink across six continents with authentic ingredients, cooking techniques, and presentations so it was a challenge to narrow them down to just a handful of top tastes.
Our chefs have done a fabulous job of creating a diverse menu of offerings at each marketplace with mouthwatering savories, delectable sweets, plant-based options, gluten/wheat-friendly options, and more! This list is just a quick peek at a few of my personal favorites. I also have a special recipe the whole family can enjoy – Gourmet Macaroni and Cheese from the Mac & Cheese Marketplace Hosted by Boursin® Cheese located in World Showplace. This special dish is made with Boursin® Garlic & Fine Herbs Cheese and topped with herb panko, YUM!
Gourmet Macaroni and Cheese with Boursin® Garlic & Fine Herbs Cheese topped with Herbed Panko
From Mac & Cheese Hosted by Boursin® Cheese (World Showplace)
Serves 6-8
Ingredients
Toasted Panko:
- 4 tablespoons butter
- 1/2 cup panko
- Coarse salt, to taste
Gourmet Macaroni and Cheese:
- 1 (16 ounce) box cavatappi pasta or elbow macaroni
- 3/4 cup butter
- 3/4 cup flour
- 8 cups whole milk
- 1 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon mustard powder
- 1/2 pound white cheddar cheese, shredded
- 1/2 pound yellow cheddar cheese, shredded
- 3 (5.2-ounce) Boursin Garlic & Fine Herbs cheese wheels, divided
- Coarse salt, to taste
- White pepper, to taste
Directions
For Toasted Panko:
Melt butter in small saucepan over medium heat. Add panko and stir until combined. Toast in pan for 3-5 minutes until golden brown. Remove from heat; salt to taste. Set aside.
For Gourmet Macaroni and Cheese:
- Cook pasta in salted water according to package directions. Drain well. Set aside keeping warm.
- Melt butter in 5-quart saucepan over medium heat. Whisk in flour and cook, stirring constantly, until a blonde roux, approximately 4 minutes.
- Add milk, garlic powder, onion powder, and mustard powder and bring to boil. Reduce heat to simmer and stir constantly for 2-3 minutes, until thickened.
- Fold in both shredded cheddar cheeses and two Boursin Garlic & Fine Herbs cheese wheels. Blend with immersion blender until cheese has melted and smooth.
- Season to taste with salt and white pepper.
- Add hot, cooked pasta with cheese sauce and mix until combined and divide evenly into 6-8 bowls.
- Cut remaining Boursin Garlic & Fine Herbs cheese wheel into 6-8 pieces or crumble into a small dish.
- Top Gourmet Macaroni and Cheesewith toasted panko and Boursin Garlic & Fine Herbs cheese pieces or crumbles.
- Serve immediately.
Click here for a print-at-home version of this recipe!
As for the rest of my picks, read on to see which dishes I chose as my top dishes of this year’s Taste of EPCOT International Food & Wine Festival! To see the whole list of offerings, check out our recent Foodie Guide. Enjoy!
Impossible™ Farmhouse Meatball with Lentil Bread, Spinach, Marinated Vegetables, and Creamy Herb Dressing (plant-based)
From Earth Eats Hosted by Impossible™ (Near Mexico)
Piri Piri Skewered Shrimp with Citrus-Scented Couscous
From Africa
Kālua Pork Slider with Sweet-and-Sour DOLE® Pineapple Chutney and Spicy Mayonnaise
From Hawaii
Liquid Nitro Chocolate Cake Pops with Crumbled Twix® Original or Crushed M&M’S® Milk Chocolate
From Desserts & Champagne (World Showplace)
Crispy Citrus Chicken with Orange Aïoli and Baby Greens (gluten/wheat friendly)
From The Citrus Blossom (Showcase Plaza)
Comments
I had the plant based Mac and cheese at Epcot and would love to find out how to make that. It was absolutely delicious! I thought I’d had my last Mac and cheese when my body decided it shouldn’t have dairy any longer! Can anyone help?
I made this recipe as is, but used 4 cups of milk. It came out perfectly!
There is most definitely something wrong with the proportion of sauce to pasta. Like another comment says, made exactly to the recipe it is like a cheese soup with a few macaronis floating in it. I halved the recipe for the sauce, and added a full box of elbows and that still results in an extra cheesy, saucy delicious bowl of mac. I will figure out how to halve the recipe again because it makes A LOT.
I loved this recipe! However, I did have to use two boxes of pasta.
I made the macaroni and cheese recipe last night,
And followed it completely! It was fantastic! Don’t add more pasta, once it’s all together and sits a bit, it’s perfect. My family loved it!
I agree with Christine. WAAAYYY too much cheese sauce for 16 oz. of pasta. It looked like cheese soup with some noodles floating around. Double the pasta and it will be a much better ratio. You also don’t need 4 tablespoons of butter for the Panko. Mine tasted so much like butter it was almost nauseating. Had to scrape it off and throw it all away. Two tablespoons should be more than enough!
I made this but it just seemed like something was missing. Has anyone tweaked the recipe in any way? I see someone added more pasta, but other than that, have you done anything?
Oh my goodness, we had the mac and cheese last week at epcot and loved it! So excited you posted the recipe so that we can continue to enjoy it at home. Thank you!!!
I made this tonight and it was DELICIOUS. However, the you actually need TWO boxes of pasta (32 oz) instead of the 16 oz the recipe calls for. WAY too much cheese sauce for just 16 oz of pasta.
So glad you enjoyed this recipe! The recipe is meant to be served with a thicker cheese sauce but you can definitely add more pasta if that is your preference.
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