September 24, 2009
MENU
Homemade Macaroni and Cheese
RECIPE
(Serves 2-3)
1 cup pasta
3 Tbs butter
3 Tbs flour
1 ½ cups milk
1/3 white wine
2 cups grated sharp cheddar cheese, lightly packed
¼ tsp paprika
Salt
Pepper
Topping
¼ cup bread crumbs
¼ cup chopped parsley
¼ cup grated parmesan cheese
Pre heat oven to 400°. Cook pasta in salted water until al dente (a little chewy and not quite cooked yet) and drain. While pasta is cooking melt butter in medium sauce pan over medium heat. When butter foams (is bubbly) add flour and whisk into a paste. (This is called a roux.) Cook roux until raw flour smell is gone and it is just beginning to color. Add milk and whisk continuously until mixture begins to boil and thicken. (This is a béchamel sauce.) Whisk in wine and paprika. Whisk in cheese a handful at a time. Continue to cook mixture, whisking constantly until cheese has all melted. Add salt and pepper to taste. Remove sauce from heat and stir in pasta.
Pour into a greased baking dish (approximately an 8x8 pan for one recipe or a 9x11 for a double.) Pasta will look a little “soupy.” Remember some liquid will be absorbed while it bakes.
Mix topping ingredients together and sprinkle evenly over top. Bake until topping is golden brown and sauce has “bubbled up.” This will take approximately 30-60 minutes, depending upon the depth of your baking dish and the quantity prepared – keep a watch.
NOTES FROM CLASS
This recipe can be doubled, tripled, quadrupled or whatever you need. Just remember that by the time you triple it, you probably need to do it in batches as the sauce and pasta will exceed the size of your pots. Even my father’s commercial size cookware could only handle a quadruple recipe.
This is a great dish to prep ahead and stick in the fridge. You can make the pasta and sauce, combine them and stick them in the fridge to throw in the oven later. Just don’t putting the topping on until just before you bake, or you’ll get a soggy goopy mess.
As you all know, lots of things can be mixed into mac and cheese. Ham, bacon, peas, broccoli, whatever you like. Just remember when mixing in things like bacon and ham, to under salt your sauce and pasta as these additions will add a lot of salt.
I know you are all tempted to shortcut easy recipes like this. But beware, pre-shredded cheeses can be a BIG problem for your mac and cheese. Most are mixed with something along the lines of cornstarch to keep them from sticking together in the package. The additives used to stop the sticking are also usually thickening agents that will affect your sauce. So better safe than lumpy, grainy, goopy…grate your own. It really doesn’t take that long, and some of you even have slave labor (husbands and kids) to do that for you.
MENU
Homemade Macaroni and Cheese
RECIPE
(Serves 2-3)
1 cup pasta
3 Tbs butter
3 Tbs flour
1 ½ cups milk
1/3 white wine
2 cups grated sharp cheddar cheese, lightly packed
¼ tsp paprika
Salt
Pepper
Topping
¼ cup bread crumbs
¼ cup chopped parsley
¼ cup grated parmesan cheese
Pre heat oven to 400°. Cook pasta in salted water until al dente (a little chewy and not quite cooked yet) and drain. While pasta is cooking melt butter in medium sauce pan over medium heat. When butter foams (is bubbly) add flour and whisk into a paste. (This is called a roux.) Cook roux until raw flour smell is gone and it is just beginning to color. Add milk and whisk continuously until mixture begins to boil and thicken. (This is a béchamel sauce.) Whisk in wine and paprika. Whisk in cheese a handful at a time. Continue to cook mixture, whisking constantly until cheese has all melted. Add salt and pepper to taste. Remove sauce from heat and stir in pasta.
Pour into a greased baking dish (approximately an 8x8 pan for one recipe or a 9x11 for a double.) Pasta will look a little “soupy.” Remember some liquid will be absorbed while it bakes.
Mix topping ingredients together and sprinkle evenly over top. Bake until topping is golden brown and sauce has “bubbled up.” This will take approximately 30-60 minutes, depending upon the depth of your baking dish and the quantity prepared – keep a watch.
NOTES FROM CLASS
This recipe can be doubled, tripled, quadrupled or whatever you need. Just remember that by the time you triple it, you probably need to do it in batches as the sauce and pasta will exceed the size of your pots. Even my father’s commercial size cookware could only handle a quadruple recipe.
This is a great dish to prep ahead and stick in the fridge. You can make the pasta and sauce, combine them and stick them in the fridge to throw in the oven later. Just don’t putting the topping on until just before you bake, or you’ll get a soggy goopy mess.
As you all know, lots of things can be mixed into mac and cheese. Ham, bacon, peas, broccoli, whatever you like. Just remember when mixing in things like bacon and ham, to under salt your sauce and pasta as these additions will add a lot of salt.
I know you are all tempted to shortcut easy recipes like this. But beware, pre-shredded cheeses can be a BIG problem for your mac and cheese. Most are mixed with something along the lines of cornstarch to keep them from sticking together in the package. The additives used to stop the sticking are also usually thickening agents that will affect your sauce. So better safe than lumpy, grainy, goopy…grate your own. It really doesn’t take that long, and some of you even have slave labor (husbands and kids) to do that for you.
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