Macaroni and Cheese, a vegetarian recipe

Name: Macaroni and Cheese
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 35 min
Total time: 50 min
Yield: 4
Cuisine: United States
Ingredients: 350 g elbow macaroni; 300 g grated mature cheddar; 60 g butter; 50 g plain flour; 700 ml whole milk; 1 tsp mustard powder; 1 pinch nutmeg; 1 tsp salt; Black pepper; 50 g breadcrumbs

Method

Boil the macaroni for 2 minutes less than the packet says. It finishes cooking in the oven.
Melt the butter in a saucepan, add the flour and stir for 2 minutes without letting it colour.
Pour in the milk in three additions, whisking after each until the sauce turns smooth again.
Let it thicken for 6 minutes over medium heat, then take the pan off the heat before the cheese goes in.
Stir in 250 g of the cheddar off the heat, along with the mustard, nutmeg, salt and pepper.
Fold the drained pasta into the sauce and tip it into a buttered dish.
Cover with the remaining cheddar and the breadcrumbs. Bake at 200°C for 20 minutes, then grill for 3 minutes.

Cheese belongs in the sauce off the heat. Above 80°C its proteins tighten and squeeze out the fat, which is what turns a sauce grainy and slick. Without the cheese or the mustard, the same sauce of butter, flour, milk and nutmeg makes the creamed spinach in stuffed acorn squash.

The techniques this recipe uses

Drain and rinse
Canning liquid clouds a sauce and salts it blind: rinse until the water runs clear.
Reduce
Uncovered, water leaves and flavour concentrates. It is done when the sauce coats the back of a spoon.

Frequently asked questions

Why is my cheese sauce grainy and oily?

Because the cheese went in over the heat. Above roughly 80C its proteins tighten and squeeze out the fat. Always take the pan off the heat before stirring in the cheddar, and let the residual warmth melt it.

Why cook the macaroni two minutes short?

They keep cooking for twenty minutes in the oven while absorbing the sauce. Cooked through from the start, they come out bloated and soft. Drain without rinsing, as the surface starch helps the sauce cling.

What does the mustard powder do if you cannot taste it?

It does not read as mustard; its acidity and bite lift the cheddar and stop the sauce tasting flat and heavy. The nutmeg does the same job for the milk. A dab of strong mustard stirred into the béchamel gives a similar result.

Macaroni and Cheese

Method

The techniques this recipe uses

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Nutrition per serving

Frequently asked questions

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