This mac and cheese with smoked cheddar and parmesan with a crispy breadcrumb topping is the best macaroni and cheese recipe you can find. Comfort food at its best
Tell me one person who doesn’t like macaroni and cheese? No one, yes absolutely no one says no to the good old mac and cheese. I absolutely can’t, even if I know, I am going to get food coma after the carbohydrate rush! It’s total comfort food for me. I have also gone to posh restaurants and ordered a big mac and cheese casserole! Yes this particular one is just ultimate.
There isn’t too much you can do with this. It is as simple as Macaroni + Cheese Sauce. And the more the merrier. So if you are a health freak and count calories before you eat – this recipe is not for you. It is high on carbohydrate, dairy everything. So if you like something like a sinful savory food this is just that.
What I do Extra?
I already told you, I don’t experiment much with this particular recipe. All I have done is added some breadcrumb and baked it. It gives a crispy topping and makes the color dark. I have also added some herbs for a change of taste. That’s it, no more contribution from my side.
What else can you modify?
The white sauce or as the French call it béchamel sauce, for the mac and cheese, is made with first making a roux. It’s equal parts of butter and flour cooked together, to which later you would add milk. For this recipe you can totally skip that roux part. You can mix 2 tablespoon of flour in ½ a cup pf milk and later add that to the sauce – it will thicken the sauce well enough.
But since this is a classic – I made it with the roux.
- For Pasta
- Elbow Pasta – 1 and 1/2 cup (you can use any shape)
- Water – pot full to boil the pasta
- Pinch of salt
- For Bechamel Sause
- Flour – 2 tablespoon
- Butter – 2 tablespoon
- Milk – 500 ml, whole milk
- Dried Oregano – 1 teaspoon
- Seasoning – to taste
- Parmesan cheese – 1/2 cup, grated
- Smoked Cheddar – 1/2 cup, grated
- bread crumbs – 1/3rd cup
- Butter 2 tablespoon, melted
- Pre-heat oven at 180C/350F
- Grease a baking casserole with butter / cooking spreay
- In a pot of boiling water add a pinch of salt
- Pour in the pasta and cook till al dente, or just about to be cooked
- Drain thw water out and keep aside
- heat butter in a pan
- cook the flour in it on medium heat, stirring constantly
- once cooked add milk gradually and keep whisking
- Add seasoning and dried herbs
- Add the shredded cheese and mix well till the sauce turns all creamy.
- Add the macaroni and mix well.
- Pour the macaroni and sauce in the baking casserole
- Sprinkle the breadcrumbs on top
- Add melted butter on top
- Add little shredded cheese
- Bake in the oven for 30 mins at 180C/350F
- Serve Warm
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Yes this is comfort food at its best.Loved the idea of adding herbs and making the top crispy.
Mac and Cheese is so much comfort to me. It is like a warm jacket on a cold winters morning. See I got poetic about it. This post made me drool!
Mac and Cheese ! Wonderful 🙂
Yummy dish will surely try 🙂
Mac and Cheese is everyone’s comfort food, no doubt! I’ll try it with the bread crumbs. Thanks for sharing the recipe! 🙂
Expressing Life
I guess this is not the right time to read such lovely posts!! Hunger pangs at peak now after reading your post Tina.
Yum, yum yum! And all I have in front of me is dal-chawaal and lauki sabzi! Boohoo! I make this dish as my kids love it, but your version sounds far more exciting Tina! Bechamal sauce….MCA yaad aa gaya!
My kids love mac n cheese..I used to make it a lot when they were small..will try with your recipe for them 🙂
It is one comfort food i go to all the time, The pics made me drool!
Mac and cheese! <3 It's like a long lost affair! Donno when was the last time I had this 🙁
Mac and Cheese is surely yum 😀 :D.
I am dropping by to your house. Seriously. This looks so yummy! I am drooling.
Any day Ramya. 🙂
Yummy yummy yummy to the core!! I can try making this one… although I always make my pasta in bechamel sauce. The only thing I do properly 🙂