Mac and Cheese

The parmesan sauce with the cheese scaled up and mixed — 1½ cups of freshly shredded cheeses instead of ½ cup of parmesan. Stovetop, no baking, done in the time it takes the pasta to cook. The one thing that matters is heat control once the cheese goes in.

IngredientsClear All

• 2 tbsp butter
• ¼ cup all-purpose flour
• 2 cups pasta water (reserved from cooking pasta)
• ½ cup milk
• 1½ cups freshly shredded cheese, mixed (see below)
• Salt to taste
• 1 lb pasta, cooked al dente

The cheese blend

Any cheeses work. The go-to is half sharp cheddar, a quarter Swiss, a quarter parmesan or pecorino:

• ¾ cup sharp cheddar
• 6 tbsp Swiss
• 6 tbsp parmesan or pecorino

Instructions

1. Shred the cheese: Shred it yourself from a block — see the note below on why this matters. Toss the shreds together so the blend is even.

2. Cook pasta: Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and cook the pasta until al dente. Before draining, reserve at least 2 cups of the pasta water. Drain and set aside.

3. Make the roux: While the pasta cooks, melt the butter in a large skillet or saucepan over medium heat. Add the flour and whisk constantly to form a roux. Cook 1-2 minutes, until the raw flour smell is gone and it's slightly golden.

4. Add pasta water: Gradually add the pasta water to the roux, whisking constantly to prevent lumps. Start with about 1½ cups, whisking until smooth.

5. Add milk: Whisk in the milk. The sauce should thicken as it comes to a gentle simmer.

6. Add the cheese — off the heat: Take the pan off the burner. Add the cheese in three or four handfuls, whisking each one in completely before adding the next. The residual heat in the sauce is enough to melt it.

7. Combine with pasta: Pour the sauce over the drained pasta and toss to coat. If it's too thick, add reserved pasta water a little at a time until it's right.

8. Serve: Serve immediately.

Notes

Heat control is the whole game. Once the cheese goes in, keep it gentle. If the sauce gets too hot the cheese breaks — the proteins tighten and squeeze out their fat, and you get a gritty, grainy sauce with oil pooling on top. It doesn't come back once it happens. So:

• Pull the pan off the heat before the cheese goes in
• Add it in handfuls, not all at once, so the sauce temperature drops gradually
• If it needs more heat to finish melting, use low heat and keep whisking — never let it simmer or boil after the cheese is in
• Reheat leftovers gently for the same reason

Shred your own cheese. Pre-shredded bagged cheese is coated with starch or cellulose to keep it from clumping in the bag, and that coating doesn't dissolve — it makes the sauce grainy and slightly gluey. This is the second most common cause of a gritty result after overheating.

On the blend: The cheddar brings the flavor, the Swiss melts smoothly and keeps the texture silky, and the parmesan or pecorino adds salt and sharpness. Cheddar on its own tends toward greasy; that's what the other two are correcting. Gruyère, fontina, gouda, or Monterey Jack all work in the Swiss slot.

Seasoning: Salt at the end, after the cheese. The cheeses vary a lot in saltiness — pecorino especially — so there's no way to know how much you need until it's all in.

Pasta water is key: The starch helps emulsify the sauce and makes it cling. It also helps hold the emulsion together, which is some insurance against breaking.

Best pasta shapes: Elbows are traditional, but anything that traps sauce is better — shells, cavatappi, rigatoni, or penne.

Variations:

• Add garlic to the butter before the flour
• A pinch of nutmeg, classic in béchamel, works here too
• A little dry mustard powder or a dash of hot sauce sharpens the cheese flavor without reading as spicy

Storage: Best immediately. Keeps 3 days refrigerated; reheat gently over low heat with a splash of milk to loosen it.

Source

Earl's original recipe — a variation on the parmesan sauce.