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Patty's Mac & Cheese Recipe

•3 min read
Patty's Mac & Cheese Recipe

Ingredients

Cheeses

Grate the cheese before you do anything else to get the hard part out of the way.

  • 6 oz Beecher's aged cheddar (Gruyere + a bit more Tillamook is fine)
  • 6 oz Tillamook extra sharp white cheddar
  • 4 oz fontina
  • 6 oz parmesan (Parmigiano‑Reggiano)
  • 4+ oz mozzarella

Dairy

  • 1 quart whole milk
  • 1/4th cup butter (half a stick)

Pantry

  • 16oz of pasta (cavatappi, elbows, penne, rigatoni)
  • 1/4th cup all-purpose flour
  • Salt
  • Black pepper
  • Cayenne pepper
  • 2 tsp Dijon mustard

Equipment required

  • An oven
  • 9"x13" baking pan
  • A small pot (to boil pasta in)
  • A large saucepan (something that can hold 4+ cups of liquid with room to mix)
  • A whisk you can safely use with your saucepan (no metal on non-stick)
  1. Set your oven to 375F (190C).
  2. Prepare 2 separate bowls and grate the cheeses in them. Mix the grated cheese in both bowls separately. Set aside for later.
    1. Sauce Cheeses - For the Beecher's aged cheddar, Tillamook extra sharp white cheddar, fontina, 2 oz of parmesan.
    2. Crust Cheeses - For the mozzarella and 6oz of parmesan
  3. Prepare your stove setup. You will need 2 burners, 1 for the pasta and 1 for the cheese sauce. You will start the pasta and work on the cheese sauce in the meantime.
  4. For your pasta, follow the directions on the box, but heavy salt your water and boil it for 1 minute less than al dente.
    1. Continue with the next step, but you may need to pause in the middle to drain your pasta and add it to your baking pan.
  5. Heat your sauce pan for a few minutes on the medium end of medium-low and melt the butter. Once the butter mostly stops sputtering for at least a minute, add your flour to the pan and immediately start whisking. Do this for 2 minutes or until the raw flour smell is gone.
  6. Add the quart of milk in 4 parts (1 cup per part). In between each part, whisk the milk with the roux in the pan until smooth. Once all of the milk is whisked in, you will want to reduce that down to about the texture of heavy cream.
  7. Turn off the heat and gradually mix in the Sauce Cheeses. Then add your seasonings (salt, black pepper, cayenne pepper, Dijon mustard) and mix.
  8. At this point your pasta should be drained and in your baking pan. Carefully pour your cheese sauce into the baking pan and fold it into the pasta (being careful not to break into it). Once thoroughly incorportated, you can layer the Crust Cheeses on top. Shred more mozzarella to cover the entire layer if needed.
  9. Bake for 30 minutes at 375F (190C). You can optionally broil on high for 3 minutes for a crispier crust.