Basic Macaroni and Cheese

Well that didn't take long. It only took until my second post to do macaroni and cheese. I held out for as long as I could, really I did. But macaroni and cheese is my absolute favorite meal of all time. Every shape of pasta, every type of cheese, every special addition. I've done chorizo and chiles, I've done fontina and gruyère, I've done tomatoes, I've done tuna, I've done peas and prosciutto, I've even done a macaroni and cheese from leftover welsh rarebit sauce (that was John's favorite). And believe it or not (gasp!), I even like it from the blue box from time to time.

My only rule is I don't make the same kind twice. Why should I when I love each variation as much as the last? I might as well keep trying new ones. In my recipe files, I have "breakfast dishes," "meat and chicken entrees," "soups and stews," etc., but I have a whole separate folder for just macaroni and cheese. And there are dozens I have yet to try (thanks, Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board!).

Believe it or not, I don't believe I've ever done just a basic, solid mac and cheese, at least not in recent memory. So that's what I set out to do the other day.

Basic Macaroni and Cheese

Source

Mostly my brain, probably an amalgamation of dozens of mac and cheese recipes over the years.

Yield

However long 1 lb. of macaroni will last you. For us, it fed me, John, my dad and my stepmother, we all had seconds, and there was enough for 2 lunches after that. So... about 10 meals.

Equipment

Pot to boil macaroni

Medium saucepan to make the sauce

Colander to drain the macaroni

Baking dish (I used a 9x13 glass pan)

Ingredients

6 tbsp. unsalted butter

4 tbsp. flour
1 tbsp. dijon mustard
2 1/2 cups milk
Pinch kosher salt
1/2 cup parmesan, grated
1 1/2 cups cheddar, grated
1/2 cup breadcrumbs
1/4 cup asiago, grated
1 lb. macaroni (I used penne rigate)

Directions
Heat oven to 425º. 


Cook pasta until just al dente. Remember it's going to cook a bit in the oven, and you want the macaroni to have some shape and bite still. 

Drain and rinse with cold water to stop the cooking.

While the macaroni is cooking (or after, it doesn't really matter), you can start the sauce. First melt the butter in a medium saucepan.

Turn the heat down to low, and whisk in the flour slowly until a pasty roux forms.

(stupid saucepan, moving itself off-center when I'm not looking...)


Add the dijon and salt and mix to combine.

Stir in the milk and continue to whisk until it thickens, about 5 minutes. 

Now the fun part - stir in the cheeses except for the asiago and stir until melted.

Once it's melted, remove the saucepan from the heat, pour it over the drained pasta and stir.

Pour the mixture into a buttered baking dish.

Now in a small bowl mix the breadcrumbs with the grated asiago, and sprinkle on top of the macaroni.

Bake until decently browned on top, about 25 minutes. 

... and enjoy!

p.s. I feel I need to include a disclaimer here about my atrocious photography skills. Part of it is that I'm just not very good. I expect that to get better with practice. Part of it is a mediocre camera, which isn't going to change for quite awhile. And part of it is John's impatience with my insistence on taking photos at every stage, so I'm often trying to hurry so he doesn't put his polly pissy pants on. But overall I do expect the quality of my food photography to improve, so bear with me! :D