Prep: 10 Minutes | Cook: 30 Minutes | Resting Time: N/A | Total: 40 mins
Makes 10 Servings
Ingredients
1 Box Pasta (Cavatappi is my favorite choice)
4 oz Gruyere cheese
8 oz Cheddar cheese
2 T Butter
2 T Flour
2 C Milk
½ t Nutmeg
Salt, to taste
Pepper, to taste
Recipe Summary
Cook pasta to al dente
Make Mornay Sauce by first making roux, adding milk (bechamel) then adding cheese.
Mix pasta with mornay sauce.
(Optional) Bake the Mac and cheese for a crispy top.
Recipe
Boil a pot of water and add salt to it for the pasta. Cook the pasta to al dente using the box instructions as a guide.
While the water is boiling and the pasta is cooking make a roux by adding butter to a pot and adding an equal amount of flour. While stirring, cook for about 2 to 3 minutes or until the flour begins to lose the starchy taste. You don’t want to overcook this because you don’t want it to add any color. If you overcook the roux, it will still taste good and will still be a roux, but it won’t be the light color room that we’re looking for in this dish.
Add milk slowly to the roux and mix in thoroughly. The roux will initially be clumpy but as you add more milk, it will eventually transform into a sauce. As you continue cooking the milk and roux and bring it up to a boil it will slowly thicken and evolve into a bechamel. Add salt, pepper and freshly ground nutmeg.
Once the bechamel is a desired consistency take it off heat and add grated gruyere and cheddar to the mix. The heat from the bechamel will naturally melt the cheese, both of which are very easily melted work in the cheese. Between steps wait until it’s fully melted before you add more cheese. Work in small amounts because you don’t want to shock the sauce and prevent the cheese from melting.
Once all the cheese has been added and you have a gooey sauce you’ve created a sauce mornay. Drain pasta and start adding sauce more slowly to the pasta, mixing thoroughly. Depending how cheesy you want the pasta, continue adding sauce to your desired level.
At this point, you can either transfer the pasta to another dish and bake to get a crispy crust or serve for a gooey mac & cheese.