Final Cooking Fantasy
Pasta and Cheese
Notes
Cheddar is king when it comes to this dish, but lately I’ve been using a 50/50 mix of Mozzarella and Cheddar.
Despite the name being Macaroni and Cheese, I find myself preferring small shell pasta instead, there I said it.
What's in it
- 1 cup Small Pasta
- 1 tbsp Vegetable Oil
- 1 tbsp Flour
- 1 cup Milk
- 1/4 tsp Cayenne
- 1/4 tsp Salt
- 1/4 tsp Pepper
- 1 tsp Curry Powder
- 1 cup shredded Cheese
- 1 tsp Lemon Juice
- 1 tsp Dijon Mustard
What to do
- Start boiling your water for your pasta. (I usually turn the element to medium and just let it sit until I'm further along with the sauce)
- In a tiny bowl or measuring glass whisk together your flour and oil. Pre heat another sauce pan for a couple of minutes on med-low and then add in your roux (Oil and Flour mix), stir and let cook for about 5 minutes.
- Next add in your Curry Powder, Cayenne, Salt, and Pepper; mix well and let cook for two minutes keeping heat around med to med-low. It should form into a weird looking paste, that's okay.
- Next add in about a 1/4 cup of your Milk and continuously whisk, mixture should start to combine and become thick also turning a nice orangey colour. Add a little bit more milk and keep whisking, once you fell the sauce is nice and smooth add the rest of your Milk and, you guessed it, keep whisking.
- Still keeping heat around med - med low whisk ocassionally for around 5 minutes. The sauce should start to thicken a little bit, you don't want to reduce it too much though because your cheese is what's going to do most of the thickening for your sauce.
- At this point you can turn your pasta water up to high so it comes to a boil. Add Pasta when boiling and cook al dente (usually about 5 mins), drain, and set aside, do not rinse.
- While your pasta is cooking turn your sauce down to min and slowly add in your cheese little by little, whisking the entire time. This seems tedious but this is where your sauce is most likely to break. This usally happens due to too much heat and/or too much cheese being added way too fast. When your sauce breaks, it essentially separates giving you this gross grainy mess, so have patience. If the cheese isn't melting you can give it a little heat. I usually find I move it to min and slowly bring it up to med-low as the sauce cools down while I'm adding the Cheese.
- When Cheese has been mixed in, add in your pasta and give it a good mix. Add in your lemon juice and mustard. Check the temperature and give it some more heat if needed then serve.
