A little less then a year ago I was talking to my hairdresser and mentioned to him that I was on this quest to find the best mac in Seattle. Of course the first thing out of his mouth was that his mac was the best. Unfortunately he would not give out his recipe but did mention that I should try Martha Stewart's basic mac'n'cheese. He said not only is it really tasty, but also probably the closest I would ever get to his mac aside from eating it.
One thing I should note is depending on what type/brand of cheddar you use will determine what your final product will taste like. In my case I made it with Coastal cheddar. By no means do you need to follow what I did, but I should mention that I used that brand and Pecorino Romano. Wanted to use Gruyere, but unfortunately it was not available. Coastal tends to be very rich, so if you would like a more basic version you can totally try this with Tillamook.
Martha Stewart's basic mac'n'cheese recipe:
- 8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, plus more for casserole 6 slices white bread, crusts removed, torn into 1/4-1/2 inch pieces
- 5 1/2 cups milk
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons coarse salt, plus more for water
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 4 1/2 cups (about 18 ounces) grated sharp white cheddar cheese
- 2 cups (about 8 ounces) grated Gruyere or 1 1/4 cups (about 5 ounces) grated Pecorino Romano cheese
- 1 pound elbow macaroni
Procedure:
1. Preheat oven to 375 F. Butter a 3-quart casserole dish; set aside. Place the bread in a medium bowl. In a small saucepan over medium heat, melt 2 tablespoons butter. Pour the melted butter inot the bowl with the bread and toss. Set te breadcrumbs aside.
2. Warm the milk in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Melt the remaining 6 tablespoons butter in a high-sided skillet over medium heat. When the butter bubbles, add the flour. Cook stirring 1 minute
3. While whisking, slowly pour in the hot milk a little at a time to keep mixture smooth. Continue cooking, whisking constantly, until the mixture bubbles and becomes thick, 8-12 minutes.
4. Remove the pan from the heat. Stire in salt, nutmeg, black pepper, cayenne pepper, 3 cups cheddar cheese and 1 1/2 cups Gruyere (or 1 cup Pecorino Romano); set the cheese sauce aside.
5. Cover a large pot of salted water and bring to a boil. Cook the macaroni until the outside of the pasta is cooked and the inside is underdone, 2 to 3 minutes. Transfer the macaroni to a colander, rinse under cold running water and drain well. Stir the macaroni into the reserved cheese sauce.
6. Pour the mixture into the prepared dish. Sprinkle the remaining 1 1/2 cups cheddar cheese, 1/2 cup Gruyere (or 1/4 cup Pecorino Romano) and the breadcrumbs over the top. Bake until golden brown, about 30 minutes. Transfer the dish to a wire rack for 5 minutes; serve.
This recipe was well worth it and in the future may make it again if I'm not in the mood to make one of the many new recipes on my list. The best part of this was that the bread topping really worked well with all the cheese and pasta. Perfect bites of cheese and crustiness.
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