Time to let you into a little secret….Mac & Cheese is a real guilty pleasure of mine. It’s not very Italian of me to like Mac & Cheese, but there is just something so glorious about having carbs in a super cheesy silky white sauce topped with more cheese and carbs. I mean, that is pure heaven in my eyes!
Mac & Cheese is one of those dishes that if it’s on the menu, I will order it regardless of what I’m having. One of my best memories of eating Mac & Cheese was on a trip to California in 2018. I had gone to visit a friend of mine who was living out there and at the end of an incredible week of wine tasting in Napa Valley, I told her that I needed to have the best Mac & Cheese that she knew about. So, before heading to catch my flight to Seattle, we were hanging out in Oakland and went to the most amazing Mac & Cheese joint called Homeroom. I remember asking the waiter how many portions we needed between 2 and they said, “Most people get 1 whole one to themselves and take leftovers home in a box for later” – sweet…although I knew I couldn’t take mine on the airplane so we just had to eat what we could. We ordered the Smoky Bacon Mac (which is still available on their menu and the Soft Shell Crab Mac with a crispy breadcrumb topping. Needless to say, we demolished both, not a crumb in sight…I think even the waiters were shocked. Here they are in all their glory along with my beautiful friend Maja:
So of course, I had to get a recipe for Mac & Cheese on the blog! I love mine creamy and swimming in that white sauce and I don’t go easy on the cheese either. This will also be one of the only times you will see me using processed mozzarella rather than the fresh stuff – it just melts better in a Mac & Cheese. The fresh mozzarella lets out a lot of water and can get TOO stringy! But for the rest of the cheeses, I love a Gruyere – this adds so much flavour and nuttiness along with the Cheddar and the hint of Parmesan and the Red Leicester adds a beautiful colour. You can of course switch these up according to what you can get hold of in your local supermarket, but you want to have at least 4 different kinds and be sure that they melt nicely, otherwise you will end up with a grainy lumpy Mac & Cheese.
There are a couple of different stages when making your Mac & Cheese, and I would highly recommend grating all of your cheese before getting started and having the rest of your ingredients weighed out and ready. You will need to be concentrating on your white sauce so try to avoid getting distracted…and that means scrolling through Instagram and TikTok!
The different stages are:
- Warm your milk – don’t let it boil! This is super important and will spoil everything. Just keep your milk in a saucepan on a medium low heat, it shouldn’t even simmer, it just needs to be warm. Cold milk will make the roux seize and we don’t want that.
- Put your pasta water on to boil – we aren’t cooking the pasta yet, but just make sure your water is ready for when we do! Also put your oven on now so you don’t forget about it!
- Prepare your Roux – the fancy word for melted butter and flour. This is the base of your white sauce (or béchamel) and you will generally need equal parts butter and flour. Melt your butter on a medium heat and once it starts to froth, add the flour and whisk to combine – it will look like a lumpy mess but don’t worry! You need to let the roux cook for a couple minutes – this cooks out the flour and gets rid of that raw flour test – you don’t want that in your cheese sauce either.
- Slowly start adding your milk – one ladle at a time and instantly stir/whisk to combine. The milk will absorb into the roux immediately at first, you don’t want to add anymore milk until the previous ladle has been incorporated. Be patient but vigorous with your stirring. As you near the end of your milk, you will see the white sauce will actually look like a white sauce and not a lumpy mess and once all the milk has been added, let it cook for a few minutes to thicken slightly – this will let the flour cook more too.
- Next it’s time to add your cheese! Take the white sauce off the heat and add all your cheese, stirring everything so it swirls through the white sauce. Don’t be shy either! The cheesy white sauce will really start to thicken and look deliciously creamy.
- Now it’s time to season! Add your nutmeg and mustard and before you go in with your salt give the sauce a try – the cheese will have already added some level of salt and pepper depending on what you used, so give it a go before it’s too late. You don’t want the seasoning to overpower the cheese but you also don’t want it to be bland. Use your taste buds and add bit by bit. At this stage, you could also add in some paprika or cayenne if you wanted to spice things up but this recipe is keeping things simple and all about the cheese! But see notes below for some alternatives!
- OK, we are almost there – time to cook the pasta in your boiling water. No need to season the water this time, the sauce should provide enough flavour. You will want to cook the pasta for half the cooking time – so check your packaging! When it’s cooked, drain and add to the cheese sauce.
- Check your seasoning again – the pasta may have changed the balance so you can go ahead and add more salt, pepper etc or be cheeky and add even more cheese if you want! Then pour into an ovenproof dish, top with more cheese and breadcrumbs and stick it in the oven! You can switch the oven to grill mode if preferred and just let it brown on the top.
- Let it sit for 5 minutes and then DIG IN!
Alternatives
- Add paprika and cayenne to spicy things up.
- Fry bacon or pancetta and add to the cheese sauce at the end.
- Try using smoked cheese for enhanced smokiness – this also works great with smoked bacon!
- Breadcrumbs aren’t essential, so you can just go heavy on the cheese topping.
- If you want a wetter Mac & Cheese, make more white sauce and add double cream or sour cream but don’t increase the pasta!
Troubleshooting
- If your white sauce gets lumpy as you’re adding the milk, it could mean the milk is still too cold. If vigorous whisking doesn’t help, then you can pour the white sauce through a sieve before you add the cheese – this should make it nice and smooth!
- Avoid preparing this ahead of time as the pasta will soak up the cheese sauce leaving you with a dry Mac & Cheese. If needed, you can prepare the cheese sauce and then cook the pasta and combine when you know you’re almost ready to eat.
- If you end up with any leftovers, you can reheat in the microwave or in the oven but it won’t be as runny! It is still delicious though!
- If you can’t find macaroni, that’s ok – you can use any smallish pasta or you can try using small shell pasta – that will lead to you having little cups of cheese sauce with every bite! Yum!
4
servings15
minutes30
minutes45
minutesIngredients
400 ml Whole milk
25 g Unsalted butter, cubed
25 g Plain Flour
50 g Gruyere, grated
45 g Red Leicester, grated
25 g Mozzarella, grated + extra for topping
50 g Cheddar, grated
10 g Parmesan, grated
1/4 Tsp Nutmeg
1/2 Tsp Dijon Mustard
100 g Macaroni
5 g Panko breadcrumbs
Salt
Pepper
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 200℃/180℃ Fan, and boil water in a saucepan. In a small saucepan, warm the milk through, but don’t let it boil.
- In a separate large saucepan, melt the better then add the flour and whisk thoroughly to combine and form a roux. Let the roux cook for 2 minutes – this will remove the floury taste.
- Add a ladle of milk to the roux and whisk, it will become like a thick paste at this stage. Add another ladle of milk only once the previous batch is fully incorporated, again it will become like a paste – stick with it!
- Keep adding the milk ladle by ladle, constantly whisking you will see the paste will turn into a thick sauce. At this stage, add the nutmeg, dijon mustard and some salt to taste.
- Allow the sauce to cook through for around 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. It should be lovely, silky and thick – and guess what, you’ve made bech. Pour the macaroni into the boiling water and set your timer for 5 minutes.
- Take the white sauce off the heat and add all the cheese – stir through. Taste and adjust the seasoning.
- Drain the macaroni and add directly to the white sauce, stir to evenly coat all the pasta then spoon into a large ovenproof dish.
- Top with panko breadcrumbs and some mozzarella then bake for 10-15 minutes until golden on the top. Alternatively, you can switch your oven to grill and grill the Mac & Cheese for around 5 minutes just so the top gets lovely and gnarly.
- Let it rest for 5 minutes before serving!
Notes
- If your white sauce gets lumpy as you’re adding the milk, it could mean the milk is still too cold. If vigorous whisking doesn’t help, then you can pour the white sauce through a sieve before you add the cheese – this should make it nice and smooth!
- Avoid preparing this ahead of time as the pasta will soak up the cheese sauce leaving you with a dry Mac & Cheese. If needed, you can prepare the cheese sauce and then cook the pasta and combine when you know you’re almost ready to eat.
- If you end up with any leftovers, you can reheat in the microwave or in the oven but it won’t be as runny! It is still delicious though!
- If you can’t find macaroni, that’s ok – you can use any smallish pasta or you can try using small shell pasta – that will lead to you having little cups of cheese sauce with every bite! Yum!
Honestly so good!