Try this Gourmet Four Cheese Macaroni and Cheese recipe
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
- 2 cups milk (i used 2%)
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 lb rotelle pasta (they look like wagon wheels)
- 3/4 lb sharp cheddar cheese shredded (i used an aged 5 year old variety)
- 1/2 lb gruyere cheese shredded
- 1/2 cup asiago cheese shredded
- 1/2 cup fontina cheese shredded
- 1/4 teaspoon dried mustard
- 1 cup panko (japanese bread crumbs)
- Carbohydrate 16.5994326161872 g
- Cholesterol 123.297833321875 mg
- Fat 32.6236001496197 g
- Fiber 0.118581331313729 g
- Protein 26.7239118367834 g
- Saturated Fat 19.8084933565194 g
- Serving Size 1 1 (149g)
- Sodium 502.155143980773 mg
- Sugar 16.4808512848735 g
- Trans Fat 1.89395050217567 g
- Calories 466 calories
Step-by-step
- PLEASE NOTE: This is a BAKED macaroni and cheese, therefore, it will NOT turn out with a lot of extra cheesy sauce asis absorbed into the pasta while baking. If you require an extra saucy mac & cheese, just reduce the amount of pasta you place into the dish or make more sauce so it is creamier. Thanks so much for making this dish; I hope you enjoy it! :).
- Heat oven to 350 degrees. Coat a 3 quart rectangular baking dish with non-stick spray. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to boiling.
- Toss all the shredded cheeses together in a large bowl, set aside.
- Melt butter in a medium-sized saucepan over medium heat. Whisk in the flour until smooth and slightly bubbly.
- In a thin stream, whisk in the milk. Stir in the onion powder, salt, nutmeg, dried mustard and cayenne.
- Bring to a boil over medium high heat. Reduce heat and simmer 3 minutes. Remove from heat; whisk in 2 1/2 cups of the cheese mixture and stir until smooth. Cover to retain the heat.
- Once water boils, add pasta. Cook until your desired doneness, then drain. In the pasta container, stir together the cooked pasta and cheese sauce.
- Pour half of the mixture into the prepared dish. Sprinkle with a generous cup of the reserved cheese. Spoon remaining cheese-covered pasta into the dish and top with the remaining cheese.
- Add 1 cup of Japanese Panko Bread crumbs to the top of mixture.
- Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until the Panko crumbs are lightly browned and the cheese is bubbly. Cool slightly before serving.
Whisking the cold milk into the warm butter and flour roux in a steady, thin stream is the single most critical action for avoiding lumps in your sauce. If the liquid hits the pan too fast, the starches seize unevenly, creating persistent clumps that no whisking can easily eliminate. Patience during this emulsion phase dictates the final texture of the dish.
Scaling and Storage Mechanics
Adjusting this recipe for larger or smaller crowds requires careful attention to the ratio of pasta to sauce. Because baked pasta absorbs moisture continuously while in the oven, doubling the recipe means you should scale down the total volume of rotelle slightly if you prefer a looser consistency. Conversely, halving the ingredients requires reducing the bake time from thirty minutes to roughly twenty-two minutes to prevent the edges from burning before the center reaches temperature. Leftovers present a unique textural challenge since the starches will continue to draw out moisture as the dish cools in the refrigerator. When reheating portions within a four-day window, add a tablespoon of milk to each serving and cover the container tightly to restore the creamy consistency of the cheese sauce without scorching the dairy solids.
- Sauce breaks into an oily separation: The heat under the saucepan was likely too high when melting the cheeses; remove the pot completely from the burner before stirring them in.
- Panko topping browns prematurely before the interior bubbles: Tent the 3-quart baking dish loosely with aluminum foil for the first twenty minutes of the bake time.
