Mac and Cheese is the ultimate comfort food, and this recipe is creamy, cheesy and delicious.
Great as a side dish or just a bowl straight on it’s own.
Welcome to recipes by Carina where I share with you how to make classic and simply delicious
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To make this Mac and Cheese the first thing you want to do is get a large saucepan of
water over high heat.
This recipe works great as in the time it takes the water to boil and the pasta to cook,
the cheese sauce will be ready so it can go straight in the oven.
Fill your saucepan about two thirds full and place it over high heat.
Add a good amount of salt to season the water, I’ve done about 3 tablespoons.
While your water is coming to the boil get started on the cheese sauce for this mac and
cheese.
We’re going to make a roux which is a French term for flour and butter cooked together
to thicken a sauce.
Measure out 1/2 a stick, 1/4 of a cup, or 60g of butter and place it in a medium sized
saucepan.
You’ll notice I give the recipe measurements in metric and imperial so no matter where
you live in the world this recipe should be easy enough to follow.
If you would like the full recipe for this Mac and Cheese it will be on my website as
well as the full measurements listed in the description box below.
Place the saucepan over medium heat to melt the butter while we measure out the flour,
we’ll need a 1/4 of a cup or 30g.
This recipe makes quite a large dish of mac and cheese, enough to serve about 4-6 but
it’s also great as left overs.
If you’re only cooking for two or you don’t want any leftovers it’s incredibly easy
to just halve the recipe and cook it in a smaller oven dish.
There’s also a bunch of ways to use up leftovers, like fried mac and cheese so let me know if
you would like a recipe for that.
When your butter has completely melted, sprinkle in the flour.
Use a wooden spoon or a whisk to combine the ingredients together, stirring as it cooks.
You’ll need to cook this for a few minutes over medium heat just until it starts to become
fragrant, almost a nutty smell.
This is a white cheese sauce so we don’t want to brown the butter, just cook it out
enough to the sauce doesn’t have that uncooked doughy flavour.
We’ll need 4 cups or 1 litre of milk for this recipe.
I would recommend not using skim milk or trim here as it can make the sauce more prone to
splitting.
Standard milk or half and half gives the sauce a thicker, creamier and richer flavour which
with this kind of dish is what you need.
Start to add the milk to the saucepan, about a 1/4 cup at first.
Theres no need to measure this just estimate.
Use your wooden spoon to combine the milk with the roux, it will immediately become
thicker, stickier, and almost rubber like.
Once it looks well combined add a little more milk, repeating the process.
At this point every time you add more milk in the sauce will start to look broken, lumpy
and gritty - but with a little mixing it will completely smooth out.
I’ll usually add half of the milk like this, a little at a time stirring well in between
until the sauce is more stable and has loosened.
After this the second half should just easily be able to be poured in all at once.
The water for your pasta should be at a rolling boil by this point.
Mac and cheese is traditionally made the macaroni noodles but honestly I’ve used all sorts
of different shapes and I’ll usually use what I have on hand.
Small pasta that curves like elbows, spirals, cavattapi work best as the sauce sticks and
coats better to all of the different ridges and curves.
Pour the pasta into the water and use a wooden spoon to give the pasta a mix, separating
it from each other so it won’t stick in clumps.
Cook the pasta for about 2 minutes less than the package directions.
It’s going to be cooked longer in the oven with the sauce so we want it to still have
a little bite to it so it doesn’t turn up mushy at the end.
Give the sauce a good stir and pour in the last two cups of milk to your sauce and give
it a good mix.
Turn the heat down to medium low and cook for another 4-5 minutes stirring occasionally
so the sauce doesn’t burn on the bottom of the saucepan.
While the sauce and the pasta are cooking, prep the cheese.
There are a lot of different options when it comes to cheese for mac and cheese and
essentially what you want is a softer cheese that will give a great texture to the sauce,
and a harder cheese that will give you most of the flavour.
I’m going with mozzarella and a cheddar, nothing fancy but that’s not what mac and
cheese is about.
Of course you can use something like gruyere if you want to be a little more fancy but
I’ll usually use whatever I have in the fridge.
Use a box grater to grate both cheeses.
I’ll always grate the cheese rather than buying pre grated as I don’t find it tastes
or melts as well but this is personal preference.
If you prefer pre grated because of course is definitely easier and quicker then of course
you can use that.
You’ll need 250g of both cheeses which works out to be about 9 oz or 2 cups worth.
The sauce should have thickened by this point, you just need it to be able to coat the back
of a spoon.
Turn the heat off and season with the salt, about 1-2 tsp worth for flavour.
We’re also going to add a couple of other things but this is where you can get creative.
Since this is a cheese sauce we’ll need some nutmeg, about a 1/4 tsp worth.
Nutmeg provides a very earthiness and nutty flavour which with cheese works perfectly.
I’m also going to add a heaped tablespoon of dijon mustard but you can substitute for
another type of mustard of mustard powder.
Other ingredients that would work really well are chili flakes or cayenne pepper if you’re
going for a bit of heat.
Give the sauce a really good mix to combine and we’re about ready to add the cheese.
The most annoying thing about making Macaroni and cheese is it can be prone to splitting
when the cheese is added but there are a few reasons why this will happen.
This first is that your sauce is too hot, you don’t want to be heating the sauce while
adding the cheese.
, make sure to turn the heat off, and if the element is still very hot move the saucepan
somewhere else.
The second is you’ve used a low fat milk to make the sauce, as I explained before this
can be an issue.
Finally the third is you’ve added the cheese to quickly.
I’ll usually switch to a whisk here as it just makes incorporating the cheese easier
and faster.
Start to add the cheese, a small handful at a time and mix really well in between.
The residual heat from the sauce will start to melt the cheese gently and your sauce will
become thicker.
When most of the cheese has melted, add another handful.
We’re going to save about a third of the mozzarella cheese, or the softer cheese if
you have used something else, for melting on top so make sure you don’t use it all.
The sauce doesn’t need to be completely smooth, you may still have cheese that hasn’t
melted but this will happen in the oven or when it’s mixed with the macaroni.
Let me know in the comments below if you make mac and cheese often, or if you’ve never
made it yourself but you’re going to give this recipe a try.
Drain your pasta and give it a shake, transfer it back into the large saucepan.
It should still have a bit of bite to it and not be completely cooked as it will continue
in the oven, this basically stops it turning to mush and makes sure there is still some
texture.
Take your cheese sauce and pour it over the pasta.
This is also the point where you want to add anything else in.
Popular ingredients are crispy bacon pies, jalapeños are a favourite of mine, sun-dried
tomatoes, really whatever you would like.
Take the wooden spoon and give the mac and cheese a really good mix.
The cheesy sauce is going to stick perfectly to the pasta and fill up the centres.
Pour your mac and cheese into an oven safe dish, spreading it out evenly.
This part is optional but it’s something I’ll always do, add about a 1/4 cup of bread
crumbs on top.
I’ll go for panko usually but standard bread crumbs work just as well.
This gives a bit crunch to the mac and cheese which in my opinion it needs.
Without is okay but it can get a little boring, the crunchy cheesy top after its baked is
the best part, trust me.
Sprinkle over the leftover mozzarella or the other type of cheese you have decided to use.
Place the mac and cheese into a preheated 180C/350F oven for about 20-30 minutes or
until these is golden brown and bubbling.
I hope you give this recipe a try, it’s one of my go to favourites.
Remember to subscribe for a new recipe each week, thank you for watching and I will see
you in my next video.