Today’s recipe is the ultimate comfort food and that is mac and cheese. It’s an old favorite of mine that I love to make, its great as a side dish, or just eating it on its own so to learn how to make it just keep watching. To make the mac and cheese we’re starting off with a béchamel sauce, or another name for it a white sauce, then we’re going to add cheese. So to make the sauce we need to make a roux out of equal amounts of butter and flour. This is what will be the thickening agent in the sauce. Add the butter to a saucepan and heat over medium heat to melt.
While we’re waiting for the butter to melt, measure out the flour into a small bowl. Sprinkle over the melted butter and begin to mix the two ingredients together with a wooden spoon until the flour is well incorporated. It should turn into a sort of paste-like consistency. Cookout the roux for a few minutes to develop some flavour, stirring a few times. While the roux is cooking measure out the milk. I prefer to use whole milk in this recipe as it gives the sauce a lot more of a creamy taste but if you did want to you can use skim. Pour it into a jug or something with a spout so it can be poured easily into the saucepan. Start by pouring a small amount of milk into the saucepan.
It will bubble up but start stirring with the wooden spoon until it smoothes out and the milk absorbs in. And then simply repeat until you have used up the remaining milk. Pouring the milk in a small amount at a time reduces getting lumps in the sauce. If your sauce does become lumpy just keep it on the heat and keep stirring and they should dissolve.
You can switch to using a whisk if that’s easier. Keep the sauce on the heat, stirring occasionally while we prepare the cheese and the macaroni. I’m using two different types of cheeses for this recipe. You can use whatever type you would like, depending on what flavor you like. I am using a cheddar cheese to give the sauce a lot of flavour and also mozzarella because it’s great melted over the top. Grate the cheeses and set aside. In a large pot of boiling water sprinkle in some salt and add the macaroni. Stir to prevent the pasta from sticking to the bottom and cook according to the package instructions, usually about 7 minutes.
If the macaroni is a little bit underdone, don’t worry about it as it will keep cooking when we put it in the oven. At this point remove your béchamel sauce from the heat and leave to cool for a few minutes before adding the cheese. When it has cooled start to add the cheese slowly, waiting for the cheese to melt between each addition. Adding the cheese all at once when the sauce is too hot can cause it to curdle and separate and once it does that you basically have to start from scratch. Remember to reserve some of the cheese for sprinkling over the top of the mac and cheese. Once all the cheese has been added and the sauce is smooth set it aside while we drain the macaroni. It should be al dente, or even a little underdone as it will continue cooking when we place it into the oven.
Drain the macaroni in a colander and shake to remove as much water as possible. Pour the pasta into the cheese sauce and give it a mix until everything is well incorporated. This is just a simple recipe but at this point feel free to add anything else you would like, bacon is quite popular. Pour the mac and cheese into a baking dish and sprinkle over the cheese we set aside earlier. Place it into a preheated oven until the cheese has melted and everything is crispy and bubbling. your cheese and macaroni are ready now hope you will try this recipe. Thank You
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