I had tried my first homemade, grown-up mac and cheese a few weeks ago after inspiration from a blue cheese mac found on r/ recipes. With two types of white cheddar, robusto, and gruyere on hand I thought what could go wrong?
Apparently the bechamel is what can go wrong. When I added the cheese to my butter-flour-milk base the sauce turned grainy rather than that fantastic smooth texture so sought after in alfredo and cheese sauces. Attempt numero dos went much better, and went approximately as follows. Also, preheat your oven to 350 and have a 9x13 ready. I buttered the pan but I have no idea if that actually helped with sticking or not. But first, another picture of the finished product to tempt you with:
Bechamel/Cheese Sauce Ingredients:
1 1/2 tablespoons butter
1 1/2 tablespoons flour
1 cup milk (I used 2%)
1/4 to 1/3 cup-ish 1/2 & 1/2
3 cups + grated good melting cheeses. Not pre-shredded, and not any of that low fat crap. Cheddars, provolone, gruyere, fontina and mozerella should all melt nicely, just to name a few.
3ish cups dry pasta of your choice, I had penne on hand. Check the package for servings...
store bought bread crumbs or a sourdough loaf, 4-5 slices, or I guess if you have some slightly stale bread?
1/2 tsp to 1 tablespoon of nutmeg, cayenne, paprika, garlic, basil, rosemary, onion, tomato, carrots....some combination of these things, if desired
salt/pepper to taste
Prep:
Get it done and out of the way now and grate your cheese. I like to do about 2 cups cheddar gruyere and one cup mix of whatever else sounds good. You can definitely add more cheese, 4 cups if you like. And who doesn't like more cheese?
If you don't have pre made bread crumbs, slice bread and toast it or stick it under the broiler. Keep an eye on this or you'll burn it like woah. Flippie flippie a couple times until crispy. While these get toasty get a pot of water boiling on the stove for the pasta. Then hammer that bread with a meat pulverizer or whatever heavy thing is in your kitchen for insta-bread crumbs.
Time to make sauce! Yay. Melt the butter on low medium heat in a medium pan and add the flour, stirring to a smooth consistency. I always try and use a small sauce pan because this does not make a large amount of liquid but you'll need to go for a medium pan because 3 cups of cheese are going into this too.
Going well so far? Great! Now pour the milk into this butter/flour cream and stir/whisk to combine. Keep this on low to medium heat - do not boil the milk but you want to cook the glutens in the flour some for better flavor/thick awesome sauce texture. Your water is probably boiling by now; get that pasta cooking as per it's instructions, minus one minute. Let the milk mixture cook, while stirring frequently for about 5 minutes. Add salt, pepper and spicing now if you want. I added 1/4 to 1/2 tsp cayenne and some other things later.
Turn off/down to low for the heat on the milk mixture. Stir a few times and start adding your cheese, while constantly whisking, 1/2 cup at a time. Do not add more cheese until the first batch has melted. You don't have to turn off the heat but it needs to be JUST warm enough to melt your cheese. Remember - you can always turn the heat up a bit at a time if your cheese isn't melting but if it gets overheated and turns grainy your sauce is DONE. And not in a good way.
Your pasta is probably going to finish somewhere during this - strain it and set it aside with a bit of butter or oil to discourage sticking. Continue whisking the sauce constantly and slowly adding cheese until all your cheese is gone and smoothly blended. Don't worry if it's somewhat liquidy still, it will thicken in the oven some. Add more spices to taste and that sauce is saucy.
If my saucepan is large enough I usually just dump the pasta into the finished sauce, stir a bit, and add them together into the 9x13 pan. I then sprinkle bread crumbs, cheese, or additional spices (grated nutmeg sprinkles across the top is excellent) evenly-ish across the top, cover with foil and bake for 10-15 minutes. You can add your brad crumbs after this first baking if you're worried about them burning or over crisping. Uncover, and bake for another 5-15 minutes if your sauce isn't thick enough yet. If it is thick and creamy (that sounds dirty...), bon appetit! :)
Made listening to Quantum's Apricot Morning and Kid Koala....not sure of the album.
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