A RIFF ON MACARONI AND CHEESE

After apple pie and meatloaf, perhaps the next most all-American dish is macaroni and cheese. Basically, the dish consists of some form of cooked pasta, preferably in a shape that will hold a béchamel sauce, also called a roux, of butter and flour and milk, sometimes flavored; cheese (or cheeses); and a topping. The simplest, and most classic of recipes, looks something like this, a version from Cook’s Illustrated, The New Best Recipe.

CLASSIC MACARONI AND CHEESE

Serves 6 to 8 as a main dish or

10 to 12 as a side dish

Bread Crumb Topping

6 slices good-quality white sandwich bread, torn into rough pieces

3 T cold unsalted butter, cut into 6 pieces.

1. Pulse the bread and butter in a food processor until the crumbs are no larger than 1/8 inch, ten to fifteen 1-second pulses. Set aside.

Pasta and Cheese

1 lb elbow macaroni

salt

5 T unsalted butter

6 T all-purpose flour

1 ½ t dry mustard

¼ t cayenne pepper (optional)

5 C milk

8-oz Monterey Jack cheese, shredded (2 C)

8-oz sharp Cheddar cheese, shredded (2 C)

1. Adjust the oven rack to the lower-middle position and heat the broiler. Bring 4 quarts water to a rolling boil in a Dutch oven over high heat. Add the macaroni and 1 tablespoon salt and stir to separate the noodles. Cook until the pasta is tender, just beyond al dente. Drain in a colander and set aside.
2. In the now empty Dutch oven, heat the butter over medium-high heat until foaming. Add the flour, mustard, and cayenne (if using) and whisk well to combine. Continue whisking until the mixture becomes fragrant and deepens in color, about 1 minute. Whisking constantly, gradually add the milk; bring the mixture to a boil, whisking constantly (the mixture must reach a full boil to fully thicken), then reduce the heat to medium and simmer, whisking occasionally, until thickened to the consistency of heavy cream, about 5 minutes. Off the heat, whisk in the cheeses and 1 teaspoon salt until the cheeses are fully melted. Add the pasta and cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture is steaming and heated through, about 6 minutes.
3. Transfer the mixture to a broiler-safe 13 by 9-inch baking dish and sprinkle evenly with the bread crumbs. Broil until the crumbs are deep golden brown, 3 to 5 minutes, rotating the pan if necessary for even browning. Cool about 5 minutes, then serve.

My sister, Barb’s Mac and Cheese, served at all family dinners – Christmas, Easter, Thanksgiving, Fourth of July – was a lot easier to make. Barb insisted that the secret was to use powdered milk and the sharpest Cheddar cheese you can find.

BARBARA CAWLEY’S MAC AND CHEESE

Serves 6-8

1 C (measured dry) macaroni, cooked and cooled

1 C powdered milk

1 t salt

2 T flour

½ lb sharp Cheddar cheese, grated

1 ½ T butter

1 ¼ C water

bread crumbs (optional)

1. Mix all ingredients together well and pour into a casserole dish. Cover with bread crumbs if you like. Bake at 350 degrees for one hour.

Note: Sometimes Barb jazzed this up with some chopped mushrooms or pimentos.

Ina Garten likes her Mac and Cheese a little more cheesy. And she uses tomatoes on top, under the bread crumbs. (Make this only in summer when tomatoes are ripe; don’t use those cardboard ones available out of season.) Ina also flavors her roux with nutmeg, a tradition in French cooking.

INA GARTEN’S MAC AND CHEESE

Serves 6-8

Kosher salt

Vegetable oil

1 lb elbow macaroni or cavatappi (a corkscrew-shaped pasta by De Cecco)

1 quart milk

8 T unsalted butter, divided

½ C all-purpose flour

12-oz Gruyere cheese, grated (4 C)

8-oz extra sharp Cheddar cheese, grated (2 C)

½ t freshly ground black pepper

½ t nutmeg

¾ lb fresh tomatoes (about 4 small)

1 ½ C fresh white bread crumbs (5 slices, crusts removed)

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Drizzle oil into a large pot of boiling salted water. Add the macaroni and cook according to the directions on the package, 6 to 8 minutes. Drain well.
2. Meanwhile, heat the milk in a small saucepan, but don’t boil it. Melt 6 tablespoons butter in a large pot (4-quart) and add the flour. Cook over low heat for 2 minutes, stirring with a whisk. While whisking, add the hot milk and cook for a minute or two more, until thickened. (Heating the milk first speeds the process and whisking constantly prevents lumps from forming when cooking the flour. Cooking the roux rids the combination of the raw flour taste.) Off the heat, add the Gruyere, Cheddar, 1 tablespoon salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Add the cooked macaroni and stir well. Pour into a 3-quart baking dish.
3. Slice the tomatoes and arrange on top. Melt the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter, combine them with the fresh bread crumbs, and sprinkle on the top. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, or until the sauce is bubbly and the macaroni is browned on top.

Mark Bittman likes to flavor his milk with bay leaves. And he uses parmesan cheese, which is a lot less expensive than Gruyere. And unlike Cook’s Illustrated, he wants his pasta undercooked. And he cooks his casserole in a much hotter oven for a shorter period of time.

MARK BITTMAN’S MAC AND CHEESE (from How to Cook Everything)

Serves 4 to 6

2 ½ C milk, low fat is fine

2 bay leaves

1 lb elbow macaroni, shells, ziti or other cut pasta

4 T butter

3 T flour

1 ½ C grated cheese, such as sharp Cheddar or Emmenthal

½ C freshly grated Parmesan cheese

salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

½ C or more plain bread crumbs, preferably fresh

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Bring a large pot of water to a boil.
2. Cook the milk with the bay leaves in a small saucepan over medium-low heat. When small bubbles appear along the sides, about 5 minutes later, turn off the heat and let the milk stand. Salt the boiling water and cook the pasta to the point where it still needs another minute or two to become tender. Drain it, rinse it quickly to stop cooking and place it in a large bowl.
3. In a small saucepan over medium-low heat, melt 3 tablespoons of the butter; when it is foamy, add the flour and cook, stirring, until the mixture browns, about 5 minutes. Remove the bay leaves from the milk and add about ¼ cup of the milk to the hot flour mixture, stirring with a wire whisk all the while. As soon as the mixture becomes smooth, add a little more milk, and continue to do so until all the milk is used up and the mixture is thick and smooth. Add the Cheddar or Emmenthal and stir.
4. Pour the sauce over the noodles, toss in the Parmesan and season with salt and pepper. Use the remaining butter to grease a 9 x 13 baking pan and turn the noodle mixture into it. Top liberally with bread crumbs and bake until the crumb turn brown, about 15 minutes. Serve hot.

Giada de Laurentiis, the Food Network’s version of sexy cooking, gives Mac and Cheese her own Italian twist. And why not? As the granddaughter of the movie director and his sexy and beautiful wife, Silvana Mangano (See the movie version of Death in Venice), Giada has very good genes. (And nice cleavage!) She flavors her roux with thinly sliced prosciutto (watch the salt) and uses rigatoni for the pasta.

GIADA DE LAURENTIIS’S MAC AND CHEESE

(she calls it “Baked Rigatoni with Bechamel Sauce)

serves 6 as a side dish

1 t olive oil

4 C Bechamel Sauce (see below)

½ lb thinly sliced prosciutto, cut crosswise into thin strips

1 C freshly grated fontina cheese

½ t salt, plus more for taste

pinch of freshly ground white pepper, plus more to taste

1 lb dried rigatoni

3 T unsalted butter, diced

1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Lightly coat a 13 x 9 inch glass baking dish with the oil. In a medium saucepan, stir the béchamel sauce over medium heat until hot but do not allow it to boil. Stir in the prosciutto, ½ cup of the fontina cheese, ½ teaspoon of salt, and a pinch of white pepper. Set the cheese sauce aside.
2. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the rigatoni and cook, stirring occasionally, until almost tender but still very firm, about 5 minutes. (The pasta will cook further in the oven.) Drain the pasta and return it to the pot. Stir in the cheese sauce and season the pasta mixture with more salt and pepper to taste.
3. Spoon the pasta mixture into the prepared dish, then sprinkle with the remaining ½ cup of fontina cheese and dot the top with the butter. (The pasta can be prepared up to this point 8 hours ahead. Cover and refrigerate. Uncover before baking.) Bake the pasta until the top is golden brown and the sauce bubbles, about 25 minutes. Serve immediately.

Giada's Bechamel Sauce

5 T unsalted butter

1/2 C all-purpose flour

4 C warm whole milk

1/2 t salt, plus more to taste

pinch of freshly ground white pepper, plus more to taste

pinch of freshly grated nutmeg, plus more to taste

1. In a  2-quart saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the flour and whisk until smooth, about 2 minutes. Gradually add the warm milk, whisking constantly to prevent any lumps from forming. Simmer over medium heat, whisking constantly until the sauce is thick, smooth, and creamy, about 10 minutes. Do not allow the sauce to boil. Remove from the heat and stir in 1/2 teaspoon of salt and a pinch each of white pepper and nutmeg. Season the sauce with more salt and pepper to taste.

I guess I could go on and on with recipes for Mac and Cheese, or Mac and Cheeses. But I’ll stop here with my favorite recipe, not for the faint-of-heart. This is the ultimate Mac and Cheese and the recipe I would use for my most discerning guests (so long as they’re not worried about calories). The recipe comes from Tyler Florence.

THE ULTIMATE MACARONI AND CHEESE

Serves 6 to 8

Kosher salt

1 lb elbow macaroni

3 T unsalted butter

3 T all-purpose flour

4 C warm milk

5 ½ C shredded sharp white Cheddar

freshly ground black pepper

¼ C chopped flat-leaf parsley

extra virgin olive oil

4 slices bacon, cut crosswise into thin strips

1 large onion, diced

2 garlic cloves, smashed

leaves from ¼ bunch fresh thyme

1. Bring a pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the macaroni and cook for 8 to 9 minutes, until al dente. Drain.
2. Melt the butter in a large, deep skillet over medium-high heat. Whisk in the flour and cook for about 1 minute, stirring constantly, to keep lumps from forming. Gradually whisk in the milk, and whisking vigorously, cook until the mixture is nice and smooth. Stir in the 4 cups of cheese and continue to cook and stir to melt the cheese. Season with salt and pepper. Add the cooked macaroni and the parsley and fold that all in to coat the macaroni with the cheese mixture. Scrape into a 3-quart baking dish and sprinkle with the remaining 1 ½ cups cheese. Bake for 30 minutes, or until hot and bubbly.
3. While the mac and cheese bakes, heat a 2-count (2 tablespoons) of olive oil in a sauté pan. Add the bacon, onion, garlic and thyme and cook for about 5 minutes to soften the onion. Season with salt and pepper.
4. To serve, scatter the bacon mixture over the mac and cheese. Use a big spoon to scoop out servings, making sure you get some of the smoking bacon mixture on each spoonful.