Macaroni and cheese is definitely one of my (and many other people, I’m sure) comfort foods. It can come in any form: Stouffer’s reheatable, Kraft bright-orange-in-a-box, hell, some shredded cheese on top of pasta stuck in the microwave was my go-to meal in the high school cafeteria.
The thing is, homestyle baked macaroni and cheese is actually not that hard to make. I like mine complete with a crunchy breadcrumb crust and parmesan cheese, but you can do whatever you like.
First off, you have to pick a pasta shape. I usually go with shells, like in this picture, but I’ll use whatever short pasta I have lying around. Tube pasta like penne or maccheroni are great for getting even more cheesy sauce.
The first thing you have to learn about baking a classic macaroni casserole is how to make a white sauce.
White sauce, also known by the French name béchamel or the Italian name besciamella. Making white sauce can seem difficult at first, but while the sauce can be fussy, it’s actually not too hard to make. Simply heat a tablespoon of butter with a tablespoon of flour in the bottom of a pot (this is called a roux). Stir until smooth, but don’t allow it to darken. Then add a cup of heated milk, slowly, whisking until it’s encorporated and the sauce is thick. If you keep these proportions, you should have no problems. The only issue I ever have is sometimes the flour in my sauce clumps. You can either pass the clumps through a strainer and then mix them slowly back in, or you can do what I do (which is probably breaking about a hundred culinary laws) and stick your immersion blender in there for a second.
Remove the sauce from the heat: now it’s time for cheese.
Once you have removed the sauce from the heat, add whatever cheese strikes your fancy. Grate it or at least cut it into a dice before adding it to help the melting go more quickly: if you have to turn the heat back on to melt the cheese, your sauce may get grainy.
The classic macaroni and cheese uses cheddar or American, but you can really use any cheese you want. Once you have the basics down, you can try a variety of different versions.
Adding parmesan and nutmeg will give you a macaroni that tastes more like alfredo sauce than a typical casserole, but it’s quite delicious. I prefer to serve this version without baking, like in the second picture.
A mix of cheeses and spices can make your macaroni and cheese taste Tex-mex (try pepper jack, cheddar, cumin and black pepper).
Throw in some veggies, and mac and cheese gets a little healthier.
The possibilities are endless!
