R/T's 10th Anniversary Mac & Cheese
This is another dish I whipped up for our club's 10th Anniversary. I'm a sucker for good mac & cheese so I came up with this one to appease my tastes.
This is another dish I whipped up for our club's 10th Anniversary. I'm a sucker for good mac & cheese so I came up with this one to appease my tastes.
- 1 tsp salt
- 4 tbsp vegetable oil
- 4 16-oz packages elbow macaroni
- 2 c butter (4 sticks)
- 2 c muenster cheese shredded
- 2 c cheddar cheese shredded
- 2 c sharp cheddar cheese shredded
- 2 c monterey jack cheese shredded
- 0.25 c smoked provolone
- 3 c half-and-half
- 0.5 c sour cream
- 16 oz velveeta (freeze and shred)
- 4 eggs beaten
- 1 tsp black pepper fresh ground
- 1 tsp white pepper
- 2 packages panko breadcrumbs (i like the italian flavored)
- Carbohydrate 235.53626 g
- Cholesterol 880.6505 mg
- Fat 240.43421 g
- Fiber 9.95363347880046 g
- Protein 148.1222 g
- Saturated Fat 132.470520333333 g
- Serving Size 1 1 Serving (998g)
- Sodium 2981.852 mg
- Sugar 225.5826265212 g
- Trans Fat 14.4875553333333 g
- Calories 3696 calories
Step-by-step
- Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until a bit more raw than al dente; drain well and return to cooking pot.
- In a small saucepan over medium heat, melt butter; stir into the macaroni.
- In a large bowl, combine all cheeses
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
- Add to macaroni: Half-and-Half, Sour Cream and Cheese mixture (reserving 1 C) Eggs Mix together and season with salt and pepper.
- Transfer to a lightly greased deep 2 1/2 quart casserole dish.
- Sprinkle with the top with reserved 1 cup of cheese mixture and Breadcrumbs.
- Bake in preheated oven for 35 minutes or until hot and bubbling around the edges; serve.
Traditional stovetop macaroni relies on a standard roux and milk emulsion, whereas this baked iteration treats the pasta as a structural lattice that absorbs a heavy dairy custard enriched by eggs and sour cream. Cooking the elbow macaroni slightly shy of al dente ensures that the starch molecules retain enough rigidity to withstand thirty-five minutes in a 350 degrees F oven without turning mushy. Thorough hydration of the dried wheat starches happens inside the casserole as the half-and-half releases moisture during baking.
Melting processed cheese alongside aged varieties provides a distinct chemical advantage for texture. Velveeta contains sodium citrate, an emulsifying salt that prevents the heavy fats in the two cups of butter and four cups of sharp cheddar from separating into grease slicks under high heat. While aged cheeses like sharp cheddar contribute profound umami and complex volatile organic compounds, they curdle easily on their own; pairing them with high-moisture melting cheeses guarantees a velvety matrix.
Freezing the Velveeta beforehand makes manual grating feasible, yielding uniform shreds that integrate evenly throughout the noodle mixture rather than clumping in dense pockets. Omitting the smoked provolone will remove a subtle phenolic undertone, while swapping the half-and-half for whole milk lowers the fat content and yields a noticeably thinner sauce. Every single dairy component contributes specific casein proteins that stabilize the emulsion as the casserole heats.
Panko breadcrumbs applied to the surface create a physical barrier against moisture loss, protecting the reserved cheese layer from scorching while providing a crisp textural contrast to the soft interior. Letting the finished dish rest for ten minutes off the heat allows the internal temperature to drop below boiling, which helps the melted proteins set firmly enough to scoop clean portions without structural collapse.
