Three Cheese Macaroni & Cheese
Submitted by Andrew on 7 May 2007 - 10:07pm.
There are few dishes more comforting than macaroni and cheese and this recipe will bring a little comfort to the whole family. Adults and children seem to gobble this up. I frequently make this for pot lucks and the success of this recipe has made me very popular indeed.
Ready
Pasta
- 1 Lb elbow macaroni
- pinch of salt
Roux
- 5 Tbsp butter
- 6 Tbsp flour
- ½ tsp cayenne pepper
- 1/16 tsp nutmeg (barely a pinch)
- 2 tsp mustard powder
- 5 cups whole milk
- 6 oz Gruyere cheese, grated
- 6 oz sharp cheddar cheese, grated
- 6 oz Monterey jack cheese, grated
- 1 Tbsp salt
Topping
- 6-8 slices of a good bread (white, wheat, whole grain)
- 3-5 Tbsp cold butter
Set
- Large pot
- Colander
- Cheese grater
- Dutch oven or large pyrex baking dish
- Whisk
- Food processor
- Pyrex baking dish (9” x 13”)
- Aluminum foil
Go
Pasta
- Bring approximately 5 quarts of water to a rolling boil in a large pot. Add a pinch or two of salt and then theelbow macaroni. Cook the pasta until it is nice and soft.
- Drain macaroni into colander and set aside.
Roux
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- Melt 5 teaspoons of butter in a large pot or Dutch oven over a medium heat on stovetop.
- Whisk in flour, cayenne pepper, mustard powder and the slightest pinch of nutmeg.
- Slowly whisk in milk.
- Raise heat to high and continue to whisk until the roux reaches a full boil.
- After the roux has begun to boil, reduce the heat and simmer for about ten minutes or until the roux has thickened.
- Turn off the heat and stir in cheese. Stir until cheese has melted.
- Add the pasta to the cheese roux and mix well.
- Pour into pyrex dish. Cover and bake in oven for bake 15 minutes at 350°F.
Topping
- Add bread to food processor. Cut cold butter into small pieces and add to bread.
- Pulse food processor on and off until bread is reduced to crumb size.
Finished Product
- After mac and cheese has baked for 15 minutes top with bread crumbs and bake an additional 15 minutes or until bread crumbs are golden brown.
- Serve and enjoy.
This is a delightfully rich recipe. I recently made a double batch for a pot luck at my wife’s office. The mac & cheese was a huge hit and I got all the credit. (sorry guys but I neglected to mention great grub as I basked in the glory.)
My only word of warning is that doubling the batch multiples the time it takes exponentially. It takes a lot longer to bring 10 quarts of water to boil then it takes 5 and so on.