I’ll admit it. I have a serious addiction to cheese. I have loved cheese ever since I took my first bite out of a slice of cheese pizza from the local pizzeria near where I grew up in Brooklyn. I was only a kid then, but I became a fan of cheese for life. For as long as I can remember, I loved anything with cheese. Pizza, pasta, cheese crackers, cheese puffs, cheddar and sour cream chips – I craved all of them all the time. My love for cheese led me to make macaroni and cheese out of the blue and orange box for years during my college years. Other than instant ramen and instant mashed potatoes, I had stockpiles of instant macaroni and cheese in my college dorm room. I used to think good macaroni and cheese came straight from a box until I had the macaroni and cheese at Sava’s in Ann Arbor. Sava’s macaroni and cheese had cheddar, Parmigiano Reggiano, and smoked gouda. The combination of cheeses was unlike any macaroni and cheese I ever had. It was salty, creamy, and smoky all at the same time. I kept going back to Sava’s almost monthly throughout college. After I graduated from college and no longer lived near Sava’s, I made my own version of three cheese macaroni and cheese. It took me a couple of tries, but I finally nailed the flavors of the macaroni and cheese I remembered so distinctly when eating at Sava’s. My three cheese macaroni and cheese became my go-to macaroni and cheese of choice until last weekend. Last Saturday, I had a sudden craving for macaroni and cheese. I checked my refrigerator and only had cheddar cheese and Parmigiano Reggiano cheese. I checked my pantry and only had elbow pasta. Instead of my usual three cheese macaroni and cheese using tortiglioni or cavatappi pasta, I made a two cheese version using the two cheeses I had on hand and some elbow pasta. I also seasoned the macaroni and cheese with garlic powder, paprika, and mustard powder. Suddenly, my seasoned two cheese macaroni and cheese was born. My seasoned two cheese macaroni and cheese had all of the flavors I loved in macaroni and cheese and more. The cheddar added a sharpness. The Parmigiano Reggiano added a salty bite. The garlic powder, paprika, and mustard powder added a third dimension of flavor. All of the ingredients combined together yielded a superb macaroni and cheese. Thank goodness I made enough to pack for lunch throughout the week. Recently, I’ve been knee-deep in class readings and projects outside of work. Luckily, I had my seasoned two cheese macaroni and cheese to satisfy my cravings in between work and classwork.
Seasoned Two Cheese Macaroni and Cheese:
· 1 pound (16 ounces) elbow pasta
· 4 quarts water
· 1 tablespoon kosher salt
· 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
· ¼ cup all-purpose flour
· 2 cups whole milk
· 4 ounces sharp white cheddar, grated
· 4 ounces Parmigiano Reggiano, grated
· 1 teaspoon kosher salt
· ½ teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
· ½ teaspoon garlic powder
· ½ teaspoon paprika
· ½ teaspoon mustard powder
Directions:
1) Preheat oven to 350°F. Set aside a baking dish.
2) Heat a large pot with four quarts of water on medium-high heat. Once hot, add a tablespoon of kosher salt. Cook the pasta according to the package instructions.
3) Heat a Dutch oven pot on medium heat. Add the butter into the skillet. Once the butter melts, add the all-purpose flour. Cook for 1-2 minutes until the mixture starts to form a paste (kind of like the consistency of apple sauce).
4) Add the whole milk and cook until the mixture starts to thicken. Add the cheese one batch at a time and let the cheese melt before adding the next batch of cheese. Season with salt, pepper, garlic powder, paprika, and mustard powder.
5) Add the cooked pasta into the Dutch oven pot and stir until the pasta is coated in the cheese mixture.
6) Scoop the pasta into the baking dish.
7) Bake for 20 minutes. Turn off the heat and let the macaroni and cheese sit in the oven for another 5 minutes before serving.
Takeaways: You can use any pasta you have on hand. Elbow, cavatappi, tortiglioni, bow tie, shell, and orecchiette pasta shapes tend to work best for macaroni and cheese. From my experience, the cheese adheres better to pastas in these shapes. For another decadent version of macaroni and cheese, check out my three cheese macaroni and cheese.