Baked Mac and Cheese

• servings: 8 to 10 servings
• active time: 10mins
• total time: 1 hour

Ingredients

YOU WILL NEED

1 pound dried pasta like elbow macaroni, shells or penne

Salt, to taste

5 cups (1180 ml) milk, whole or 2% are best

5 tablespoons (70 grams) unsalted butter

5 tablespoons (45 grams) all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

1/2 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper

1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper, or more to taste

1/8 teaspoon fresh ground nutmeg

1 pound sharp white cheddar cheese, shredded (4 heaping cups), plus more if baking (about 1/2 cup)

5 ounces (140 grams) Pecorino-Romano cheese, shredded (1 1/2 cups)

Directions

Warm milk in a saucepan

Make a roux with butter and flour

Whisk in the milk and thicken the sauce. When the roux is a golden color and smells nutty (it only takes a couple of minutes), I whisk in the warm milk. As the milk heats up with the roux, it thickens and turns silky smooth.

Adds spices and the cheese. When the milk is a silky thickened sauce, I whisk in a few spices and the shredded cheese. When the cheese has melted into the sauce, I always taste and check for seasoning. It’s likely that some salt needs to be added.

Stir in slightly undercooked pasta pasta by 2 minutes

Grate the cheeses and set aside. For baked mac and cheese, reserve 1/2 cup for topping the pasta before baking in th

MAKE CHEESE SAUCE

Add milk to a large microwave-safe measuring jug and microwave 1 to 3 minutes until warm. Alternatively, you can add milk to a large saucepan over medium heat then heat milk until warm.

While the milk warms up, melt the butter in a large saucepan or Dutch oven over medium heat. When the butter begins to bubble, add the flour. Cook, constantly whisking until the butter smells fragrant and nutty — the color of the butter-flour mixture will be light brown; 2 to 3 minutes.

While whisking, slowly pour the warm milk into butter and flour mixture. Continue to cook, constantly whisking until the sauce bubbles and thickens. Remove the pan from the heat. and then stir in mustard, black pepper, cayenne, nutmeg, 4 cups of cheddar and all of the Romano cheese. Stir until the heat from the sauce melts the cheese.

Taste the sauce for seasoning, and then adjust with additional spices or salt (we usually start with 1/2 teaspoon of fine salt and go from there).

Add both the pasta and sauce to a separate large bowl and stir well

For a baked mac and cheese, pour the pasta into the prepared baking dish. Top with the reserved 1/2 cup of cheddar cheese.

Bake, uncovered, until bubbling, about 30 minutes. For browned cheese on top, turn the oven to broil, and then broil 3 to 5 minutes until the top has blistered and lightly browned. Let stand about 10 minutes before serving.