Baked Macaroni and Cheese
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(0 votes)
Difficulty:
easy
Difficulty
Preparation:
20 min.
Preparation
ready in 45 min.
Ready in
Ingredients
for
6
- Bread Crumb Topping
- 6 slices sandwich white bread (torn into rough pieces)
- 3 Tbsps unsalted butter (cut into 6 pieces)
- Macaroni and Cheese
- 2 tsps salt
- 6 cups Elbow macaroni
- 2 tsps salt
- 5 Tbsps unsalted butter
- 6 Tbsps all-purpose flour
- 1 ½ tsps mustard powder
- ¼ tsp cayenne pepper (optional)
- 5 cups Whole milk
- 2 cups monterey jack cheese (shredded)
- 2 cups sharp Cheddar cheese (shredded)
- ½ cup fresh Basil (chopped)
- freshly ground peppers (to taste)
- Steamed Sugar Snap Peas
- 4 cups sugar Snap pea
- 2 Tbsps butter
- salt (to taste)
- freshly ground Black pepper (to taste)
Preparation steps
1.
For Bread Crumb Topping:
2.
Pulse bread and butter in food processor until crumbs are no larger than 1/8-inch, or about ten to fifteen 1-second pulses. Set aside.
3.
For Macaroni and Cheese:
4.
Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and heat broiler. Coat a 9 by 13-inch broiler-safe baking dish or pan with nonstick cooking spray or butter.
5.
Bring 4 quarts salted water to a boil in a Dutch oven over high heat. Add macaroni; cook until pasta is tender (al dente). Drain pasta and set aside in colander.
6.
In the empty Dutch oven, heat butter over medium-high heat until foaming. Add flour, mustard, and cayenne (if using) and whisk well to combine. Continue whisking until mixture becomes fragrant and deepens in color, about 1 minute. Gradually whisk in milk; bring mixture to boil, whisking constantly (mixture must reach full boil to fully thicken). Reduce heat to medium and simmer, whisking occasionally, until thickened to consistency of heavy cream, about 5 minutes. Remove pan from heat source, whisk in cheeses and chopped basil, stirring until cheeses are fully melted. Add pasta and cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until mixture is steaming and heated through, about 4 to 6 minutes.
7.
Transfer mixture to broiler-safe 9-by 13-inch baking dish and sprinkle evenly with bread crumbs. Season with salt and pepper. Broil until crumbs are deep golden brown, 3 to 5 minutes, rotating pan if necessary for even browning. Cool about 5 minutes; serve with steamed sugar snap peas.
8.
For Sugar Snap Peas:
9.
Rinse and trim peas. Arrange peas in steamer basket over boiling water. Cover and steam for 3 to 4 minutes or until tender-crisp. Add butter and toss until melted. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
