

(Think cheddar, gouda, Gruyère, Parmigiano Reggiano, Brie, fontina, fresh goat cheese, and the like.) This will help to ensure a perfectly creamy sauce. For something extra decadent, whisk in some black truffle paste.Ĭheese: Whatever cheese you add, you want it to be something that melts nicely. Freshly grated lemon zest would add a bright and cheery lift. For a little heat, try whisking in some dried mustard powder or prepared horseradish.

However, if you want to experiment, you could use a variety of seasonings. Seasoning: In addition to salt and pepper, the sauce for this base recipe is seasoned with a classic combination of grated nutmeg and a pinch of cayenne. When it comes to cheese, you can keep it simple and use one kind, or blend several different cheeses to achieve a more complex flavor profile. This is the jumping-off point for your cheese sauce, also known as a Mornay sauce.
BEST MACARONI AND CHEESE RECIPE FOR A BUFFET MAC
Sauce: Whisking together butter, flour, and warm milk creates the creamy base béchamel sauce for your mac and cheese. Where you end up with the final dish is entirely up to you and your imagination.

Swap out the elbow noodles and American cheese for cavatappi corkscrew pasta and a blend of sophisticated cheeses, like Gruyère, Parmesan, and Fontina, and you’ve got an elegant side dish that would fit right in on a steakhouse menu. Made with elbow macaroni and American cheese, it could be a straightforward riff on Kraft’s kid-pleasing meal in a box. (Ditto for the addition of any flavorful mix-ins or toppings you might want to add.) Starting with a neutral bechamel sauce as the base, I can choose whatever kind of cheese and pasta I like. Remember those “Choose Your Own Adventure” books from when you were a kid? I like to think of macaroni and cheese as a sort of culinary equivalent. For me, however, the dish’s real charm lies in its versatility. It’s also hearty and filling, which makes it great for feeding a crowd. There’s the comfort factor - few dishes are more homey than a piping hot bowlful of creamy, cheese-coated noodles. There are so many reasons to love macaroni and cheese.
