I’m kind of famous for my mac and cheese —no seriously. I’m known to round up multiple people (one time it was 20) around the hours of 2 a.m. and invite them back to my house for a late night snack. My snack of choice? Mac and cheese. I’m always stocked with ingredients in the event that the occasion for mac arises…which is all the time. I have extremely strong feelings about macaroni and cheese. I refuse to eat easy mac (although if you do we got you covered), and am particularly picky because I know what I like. I like a creamy almost too-cheesy mac, with a crispy golden top. But then again, who doesn’t?
Prep time: 0 minutes
Cook time: 20 minutes
Total time: 20 minutes
Servings: 4
Ingredients
4 tablespoons of butter
6 tablespoons of flour
4 cups of milk
4 cups of grated/shredded cheese + more for topping (I use a mix of mozzarella and cheddar)
1 box of pasta (shape of your choice)
Salt
Directions:
Photo by Amanda Shulman
1. Preheat the oven to broil.
2. Melt the butter in a saucepan. Once melted whisk in the flour.
3. Cook this mixture until it’s thick and turns light brown (this is your roux, or your thickener).
Photo by Bonnie Wu
4. Pour the milk into the roux mixture and whisk until the roux is incorporated into the milk. It should be very thick and somewhat creamy.
5. Keep cooking and whisking until the milk is very hot, yet not boiling. Add in 3 cups of cheese and whisk until melted and oozy and combined. Season with salt to taste.
6. Cook pasta to al dente and drain, then put back in the pot you cooked it in.
Photo by Parsa Lotfi, University of Rochester Spoon
7. Pour the cheesy sauce over the pasta and mix. Add the remaining cup of cheese at this time.
8. Spread mac into a casserole or baking dish. Top with a little more shredded cheese.
9. Broil until top is crispy.
10. Eat your heart out.