Pimento Mac and Cheese

Zutaten

1 pound elbow macaroni

½ teaspoon table salt, plus salt for cooking pasta

¾ teaspoon pepper

3 tablespoons unsalted butter

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon dry mustard

2 cups whole milk

2 cups heavy cream

1 pound extra-sharp cheddar cheese, shredded (4 cups)

2 ounces cream cheese

2 tablespoons hot sauce

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

3 (4-ounce) jars pimentos, drained, patted dry, and minced

Anweisungen

1. Adjust oven rack to upper-middle position and heat oven to 375 degrees. Bring 4 quarts water to boil in Dutch oven. Add macaroni and 1 tablespoon salt and cook for 5 minutes. Drain macaroni; set aside.

2. Add butter to now-empty pot and melt over medium-high heat. Stir in flour, mustard, pepper, and salt and cook until mixture is fragrant and bubbling, about 30 seconds. Slowly whisk in milk and cream and bring to boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until sauce is thick enough to coat back of spoon, about 2 minutes, whisking frequently.

3. Remove pot from heat. Add 3 cups cheddar, cream cheese, hot sauce, and Worcestershire to sauce and whisk until cheese is melted. Add pimentos and macaroni and stir until macaroni is thoroughly coated in sauce. Transfer to 13 by 9-inch baking dish and sprinkle with remaining 1 cup cheddar. Bake until edges are lightly browned and filling is bubbling, 18 to 20 minutes. Let rest for 20 minutes. Serve.

To Make Ahead Fully assembled casserole can be wrapped tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerated for up to 24 hours. When ready to serve, remove plastic and bake until heated through, 40 to 45 minute

Notizen

WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS Pimento cheese is an American favorite, especially in the South, but it’s often relegated to sandwiches or crackers. To expand its range, we aimed to add it to macaroni and cheese. Folding store-bought pimento cheese into our macaroni and cheese recipe resulted in a broken sauce. Instead, we made a flavored béchamel, a thickened milk sauce, to help us control the amount of fat in the sauce and prevent breaking. Adding the cheese to the sauce before adding the macaroni also reduced the risk of it breaking. For a flavor punch, we turned to pungent dry mustard, savory Worcestershire sauce, black pepper, and hot sauce. For color, we relied on a cup of minced ruby-red pimentos.

We developed this recipe with Frank’s RedHot Original Cayenne Pepper Sauce. Creamette makes our favorite elbow macaroni.