Marvelous Mac & Cheese
This costs a bit more to make, this is the grown up version of the favorite. This is good if you have some cheese laying around, like from last taco night or the pizza you made.
This recipe is a basic Velveeta sauce and pasta. Most cheeses will do but a processed cheese spread like the one mentioned or the store version is the easiest not to mess up and has a taste we all know from being kids. Adding some mozzarella will make the sauce a bit more firm and stringy.
You ever wonder why there were different shaped pastas (or angel hair vs spaghetti vs linguine)? The different shapes and thicknesses are to change the surface area to allow a sauce to stick better to it. That's why shells and elbow pasta are the most popular for mac & cheese. Rotini is one of my personal favorites.
Directions
- 1 Block of cheese. Velveeta will do.
- "Cheese Leavings" - left over cheese.
- Whole milk.
- Pasta.
- Some herbs and spices.
- Add ins; such as sausage, other meat, broccoli, ect
I make the meat/veggie add in first and then my sauce.
Steam, boil, or nuke your veggies if you are adding veggies. Broccoli or cauliflower are my go to veggies.
Fry up, or otherwise prepare your meat, if you are adding meat, garlic sausage, kielbasa, smoked sausages, brats, ground beef/turkey/pork, or even hot dogs go well in mac & cheese. If you're going with ground meat season the meat when you're cooking it. When it's done, drain and set it aside.
Optional, you put a spoon or two of grease from your meat in the water for the pasta.
You want to get the sauce started early because of wanting the cheeses to melt and have herbs and spices time to bind with the fats and have it's flavor become part of the sauce itself.
The sauce is simple and you do it by eye. You don't want your mac & cheese to be soup and you don't want it to be bone dry, I know duh. When in doubt make more instead of less. I guys maybe the sauce should be about 1/4 - 1/3 of the volume of the pasta and add ins.
You want to have most of the cheese submerged in the milk, you don't want a shit ton of cheesebergs.
It's okay to add store brought shredded cheese but I don't recommend using shredded cheese as your only cheese. It's coated with corn starch or something to keep it from sticking together. A hand full or two shouldn't screw things up but I would not use more than 50% shreds.
I like my mac & cheese to be a bit spicy and garlicy. I'll add chili powder for the flavor instead of heat. A good pepper jack from a deli can spice up your sauce, however there is a lot of variation in the heat from brand to brand. Guggisberg Hot Pepper Cheese is good but you want to use about 1/2 - 1/4 of what you think you want to. It's great on a sandwich but too much of it is too much for a mac & cheese.
If you want to go for a more creamy but high priced cheese go with Land O Lakes Italian American Blend It's seriously one of my favorite cheeses. I made an Italian sausage & onion calzone with this cheese, it would also be good on a pizza. I recommend these cheeses to the cool customers. I even tempted two older Amish ladies with these cheeses.
So what you want to do is start a pot on the stove on a medium low heat and add the milk. Sprinkle in your herbs and spices (but not salt), and add some smaller chunks of cheese, and inch cubed. Don't keep stirring but stir often. You don't want the bottom or sides to start scorching. Stirring also helps the cheese melt.
You can stiffen up your sauce by adding more cheese, or loosen it by adding more milk. Even though it is molten you don't want a runny consistency, velvety, but not too stiff or loose.
When you start to see some cheese melting going on you can start your water. Throw some salt into the water, about as salty as the ocean. Follow the directions on your box of pasta. Cooking time will be different based on fresh or dried *box of noodles* and the specific type of pasta.
Cook till almost done, check a piece by eating it. If you're using big chonky add ins like chunks of sausage throw them in the boiling water for about a minute or two. You're just trying to warm them up a little. When the pasta is done *taste one* drain. DO NOT RINSE.
Add any other add ins that didn't get thrown into the boil. Layer the pasta and the add ins.
With the pasta and add in back in the pot add in about 1/2 of the cheese sauce and start stirring. A ladle works better because it helps capture more sauce. Pour the rest of the sauce in and stir till everything is well coated.
Let sit for at least 10 mins and eat. You want to give the pasta some time to soak up the sauce.