Baked Macaroni With Three Cheeses

Lainey6605's Note:

This macaroni and cheese features a creamy sauce and crisp topping. A great macaroni and cheese requires perfect melding of the pasta and the cheese sauce. To get that, you'll need to ignore conventional wisdom about cooking pasta until just tender (al dente). To help the cheese sauce stick to the pasta, the macaroni is cooked until just beyond al dente, which makes it more absorbent and starchier. This recipe calls for a 3-quart casserole dish, but multiple smaller baking dishes could be used. I clipped this recipe from a newspaper.

• Total Time: 45 mins
• Prep Time: 0 mins
• Cook Time: 45 mins

Ingredients:

Servings: 6

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 lb elbow macaroni
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 3 1/2 cups whole milk
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• ground black pepper, to taste
• 2 cups sharp cheddar cheese, grated
• 2 cups monterey jack cheese, grated
• 1 cup parmesan cheese, grated
• 1 cup panko or 1 cup other coarse breadcrumbs

Directions:

1. Heat the oven to broil.
2. Use 1 T of butter to generously coat a 3-quart casserole dish.
3. Bring 6 quarts of water to a boil in large stockpot.
4. Add 2 T of salt, stir briefly, then add the pasta.
5. Cook until tender and just past al dente, about 10-13 minutes, or slightly longer than package directions.
6. Drain the pasta, then transfer it to a large bowl.
7. Drizzle the olive oil over the pasta, then toss to coat; set aside.
8. To make the sauce, in a small saucepan over low heat, bring the milk to a simmer.
9. Remove the pan from the heat.
10. In medium saucepan over medium heat, melt 1/2 cup of the remaining butter, using a whisk to swirl it to ensure the butter melts completely and does not turn brown.
11. If the butter begins to brown, lower the heat.
12. While whisking, sprinkle in the flour.
13. Continue to whisk until the mixture just bubbles, about 2 minutes.
14. Do not let the mixture brown.
15. While whisking, slowly pour the milk in the saucepan.
16. Continue whisking until there are no lumps.
17. Bring the sauce to a boil, then reduce the heat to low and season with salt and pepper.
18. Continue whisking until the sauce reaches the consistency of heavy cream and coats the back of a spoon, about 2 minutes.
19. Remove the sauce from the heat.
20. Whisk in 1 1/2 cups of the cheddar cheese, all of the Monterey Jack cheese and 1/2 cup of the Parmesan cheese.
21. Whisk until the cheese is completely melted and the sauce is smooth.
22. Pour the sauce over the pasta and gently toss to coat.
23. Transfer the pasta and sauce, using a rubber spatula to scrape the bowl, to the prepared casserole dish.
24. Set aside.
25. In small microwave-safe bowl, melt the remaining 1 T of butter by microwaving on high for about 20 seconds.
26. Add the breadcrumbs and remaining cheddar and parmesan cheeses; toss well.
27. Spread the bread crumb mixture evenly over the pasta.
28. Place the dish on the oven's middle rack and broil for 6-8 minutes, or until the edges are bubbly, and a crunchy crust forms on top.
29. Cool briefly before serving.

Reviews

[Chur B]

Made with FOUR cheeses. I cut one cup of cheddar out and replaced it with one cup of asagio. Fastastic. Very rich, but fantastic. We had this for Thanksgiving and it was a hit!

[diner524]

I grew up making homemade mac-n-cheese using a white sauce and then adding in cheddar cheese and macaroni, so that part was easy. I had never added other types of cheeses and that really made a wonderful difference in flavor!!! My DS, addicted to noodles, loved this and went back for seconds. I only made 1/2 the recipe and made everything upto the broiling part, then 16 yo DS had a change in plans, so I put it in fridge until today. I left it covered in 350 degree oven for about 35 minutes, then popped it under broiler for a few minutes and it was perfect. Thanks for sharing Lainey. Made for PRMR tag.

[Sweet Jane]

Yummy. Next time I will put it in a flat baking pan so I can put more topping on - the topping is great! I like a bit stronger flavor so I think it might be better with a little spicing up - replace some of the Jack with cheddar or asagio or add some dry mustard.