- If you're looking for the ultimate comfort food,
you've got to make a big, old batch
of my baked mac and cheese recipe.
Creamy, delicious, amazing.
And did I mention the fried bread crumbs on top?
They are everything.
And you're watching Preppy Kitchen were I, John Kanell,
teach you how to make delicious homemade dishes
to share with your family and friends.
This baked mac and cheese will be ready before you know it.
So, let's get started.
First off, let's grate the cheese.
I'm using sharp cheddar and Gruyere.
If you want to use your favorite cheese, go ahead.
I personally like using a nice, creamy Gouda in here.
Red cheddar, it's delicious.
If you can find it.
Our prep work is all done,
now it's time to make some pasta.
You can't make pasta without water,
so fill a large pot up.
Might be a minute.
Put that water over heat
and let's add a big, old spoonful of salt.
I'm making classic elbows,
but shells are a really nice choice as well.
Bring to a boil over high heat.
Add your pasta, give it a stir and cook to instructions.
Once that's done, it's time to make
that delicious, delicious mac and cheese sauce.
To do that, we're gonna have three cups
of whole milk into a pot.
This is gonna go over a medium heat
and you're gonna scald the milk almost to a boil
because when you use cold milk,
that does not make the best sauce.
Grab a really big pan or even a pot.
This is where the magic happens.
On you go.
Time to melt one half of a cup or 113 grams
of butter in a big pan.
Let's get this nice and melty.
If you want to be a little adventurous,
you could totally brown the butter in the pan.
That'll add a little bit more depth of flavor,
but it's totally up to you.
If you ever see this, you know it's the beginning
of an amazing recipe.
This recipe is gonna come together really quickly,
so you might as well set that oven to 375
because it'll be baking before you know it.
Okay, butter's melted.
Let's add in a third of a cup
of all-purpose flour, just sprinkle it in.
You can reduce the heat to medium low.
And we're gonna cook the flour for two to three minutes.
This isn't the roux or the base of our white sauce
that we're gonna make and fill with cheese.
Just like you have a choice
of making the butter into brown butter by cooking it down,
you could take this white sauce and keep cooking it.
So, cook the roux down until it's a golden color.
And that'll also toast the flour, cook the butter,
and give you more depth of flavor.
Once again, it's up to you. though.
Okay, this is a gorgeous, golden color.
It has a wonderful nutty flavor.
It's time to add in the milk.
So, drizzle it in slowly while you whisk.
And blow away that steam, it's really hot.
Blow it away.
Alrighty, gently whisk this so you don't make a mess
and we're gonna cook it for two to three minutes
until the sauce starts thickening up.
My white sauce has thickened up.
It'll continue to thicken up
a little bit, so don't go crazy.
Let's take it off heat now.
It's time to add a bunch of delicious things to it.
Let's add three quarters
of a teaspoon of freshly ground pepper.
Three quarters of a teaspoon of salt.
There you go.
About a quarter of a teaspoon of paprika.
I'm using regular paprika today,
but you could definitely use smoked paprika
if you want that smokier flavor.
All right, last bit is gonna be
about half a teaspoon of freshly-grated nutmeg.
Nutmeg pairs really well with any white sauce.
And it's a classic in mac and cheese.
Even if you didn't know it was there.
Whoa, not the whole nut.
I've totally dropped nutmeg nuts into so many things.
You can just rinse them off, it'll be fine.
And now it's time for our cheese, glorious cheese.
Add them in any order you want.
Don't spill any on the floor.
All that Gruyere too.
Okay, keep stirring that in and last but not least,
we're adding in one cup of heavy cream.
Mix that in there, there you go.
We cooked our pasta until it was al dente
and had a little bit of toothless left in it.
You don't want to fully cook it so it's super soft.
One, because you're gonna bake it.
And two, because it needs to continue absorbing
those delicious juices from the sauce.
Gently toss that pasta in your ooey, gooey cheesy sauce.
Did I mention this is the ultimate comfort food?
This is now ready to pop into our baking dish.
All that pasta in there.
Smooth it out.
Mm, ASMR.
I have half a cup of panko bread crumbs,
and if you're in a hurry, you can just sprinkle them on top.
But have you ever had fried breadcrumbs?
They are amazing.
Melt a little bit of butter, about a tablespoon.
Once your butter's melted, add in those panko crumbs.
And we're just gonna fry them up in the butter
until they get a little bit of a golden color.
It happens really quickly, so don't walk away from them.
All right, look at those golden, fried bread crumbs.
It's an extra step that's definitely worth it.
To finish this off, let's sprinkle about another half cup
or full cup, depending on how you feel.
Of shredded cheese.
A little bit of Parmesan too.
And into the bread crumbs I'm adding maybe like
a quarter cup of shredded Parmesan cheese.
There you go.
And now we're gonna top it all.
Just like that.
Don't let any of these breadcrumbs go to waste.
If they're sticking at the bottom,
it's because of the butter.
Look at that, golden and ready to go into the oven.
Okay, so I can't lie to you.
I totally just doubled the recipe
because I was like, wait, I want more breadcrumbs.
You can always do a full cup of breadcrumbs
with two or three tablespoons of butter.
Look at this, okay, that's the business.
Our amazing baked mac and cheese is ready
to go into the oven.
375, about 35 minutes.
It'll be golden, bubbling, and just plain delicious.
Fresh out of the oven,
my mac and cheese was sizzling up a storm.
It sounded like a symphony of delight,
but it's cool enough to eat,
so we're gonna take a bite.
Before I do, if you like this recipe,
check out my cheesy playlist.
All of my favorite cheesy recipes in one playlist for you,
but now it's time for a bite.
(humming)
Hi friend, I missed you.
So good!
The fried bread crumbs are everything.
With the creaminess, it's like, ah.
It's just perfect.
I hope you get a chance to make this recipe.
And, if you like my videos,
hit that like button, subscribe, hit the notification bell
and I'll see you in the next cheesy video.