I made from-scratch mac-and-cheese today for the first time, with this simple (but moderately labor intensive) recipe:
I had to make some variations – I used whole wheat rotini, which required more time and more milk (not sure how much of each). I added a whole bag of frozen peas for some semblance of healthfulness, plus some butter, creole seasoning powder, and black pepper. To my own bowl I added hot sauce.
It was great! My wife and our little boy loved it, the latter of which was my goal. This is a good recipe that doesn’t take very long, though it does take some arm strength.
nice, but i do like using at least 2 cheeses in my recipes (gruyere and a 6 year old cheddar usually) along with butter, half & half, some msg, chipotle sauce, and various other ‘sudden inspiration’ ingredients. i’m glad to see you enjoy experimenting too! fun, isn’t it?
Next time, try making a roux and then add the milk to make béchamel sauce (a base ‘white’ sauce) then add the spices (I prefer paprika) and a bay leaf to it. It’s not that much more effort and you’ll end up with a really creamy base. I wouldn’t recommend cooking the pasta in milk for fear of scorching the milk (you don’t want to get milk above 180 °F); better to cook the pasta in a separate pot, and then mix it into the roux and cheese with whatever additions (I like caramelized onion and a variety of sautéed mushrooms). I personally prefer to bake for a finish but stovetop is definitely faster; you could put individual servings in french onion soup bowls, top them with bread crumbs and a sprinkling of Asiago or Gruyère, bake them long enough to brown, and finish with some fresh parsley or basil.
I’m fond of this six-cheese baked mac recipe, but it’s strictly a special occasion recipe. I made it for Thanksgiving last year to rave reviews, with my mother saying it’s the best mac she’s ever had.
The 3-ingredient recipe is my go-to mac and cheese, but a slightly different one: equal parts, by weight, pasta (dry weight), evaporated milk, and cheese. Used to make it all the time two and three years ago when my daughters were going through their mac and cheese phase. Quick and easy to get on the table, and a crowd pleaser. (And I prefer stovetop style to baked, anyway.)
Use my mother’s. She would use a stoneware pot (round sides), put in some half-cooked macaroni, a layer of slices of cheese (and probably a slice of butter), then a bit more macaroni, another layer of cheese, repeated to near the top, pour milk over, cover with breadcrumbs and bake. Myself, I would probably add some garlic and basil, and maybe a splash of pinot.
I have a copycat mac & cheese recipe of a local group of restaurants in Clarkston, MI known as the ‘Clarkston Union’ that was featured on ‘Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives’. It’s a big hit anytime I have people over for a cookout.
Start with a small onion and a few cloves of garlic finely diced and sautee in a pan with 4 tablespoons of butter. Diced up bacon is also good but optional. Gradually add 4 tablespoons of flour to make a roux.
In a separate pan, have a mix of one cup of cream and one cup of milk warming on low heat. Add the warmed cream-milk mix slowly to the roux, stirring, stirring. Add salt and pepper, and a pinch of ground nutmeg. Then add 2 cups of shredded parmesan and stir the mix in. Put the sauce aside and let cool (not sure how important the cooling step is-- I’ve used it warm, not having time to cool it).
Boil one box of penne rigate noodles until just before al dente (they will cook more in the oven) and let the noodles cool (again, not sure how important the cooling step really is).
When it’s time to oven-cook, mix noodles and sauce. The sauce may be the consistency of hardening mortar at this point, so add more milk if needed.
In an oven pan large enough to accommodate everything, lay out 1/2 the noodle-sauce mixture. Add slices or shredded sharp cheddar or other cheese-- the Clarkston Union uses Pinconning cheese, a type of cheese native to Pinconning, MI that’s like a very sharp cheddar.
Add the rest of the noodle-cheese mix on top. Top that with more sharp cheddar, Pinconning, or similar. Finally, top with a generous layer of Panko (Japanese-style breadcrumbs). Cook at 400-425 degrees for about 1/2 hour or a little longer until panko is nice and browned and sauce is bubbling.
Basically with a bit of sodium citrate (easily obtained on Amazon), you can take any cheese and turn it into a very smooth cheese sauce for mac & cheese. Or a blend of them, for that matter.
I don’t feel like trying to do a search for it ATM, but a few weeks ago someone on facebook posted a recipe for Mac & Cheese Lasagna. As I recall, it consisted of ground beef cooked with onions, then layered with mac & cheese prepared with bechamel sauce and two types of cheese and baked.
