Mac and cheese! Who doesn't love mac and cheese? Everyone has their own mac and cheese recipe. A number of them are baked, but mine is a wet mac and cheese. My kids prefer their mac and cheese non-baked. So, I make a fairly easy stovetop mac and cheese. I make a sauce from milk and a basic roux and then stir in gruyere and white cheddar cheese. Once the macaroni noodles are stirred in, we have an ooey, gooey, cheesy mac that just hits the right spot. It's a delicious and really easy to make. It makes for a great quick side for burgers, barbecue, meatloaf, steaks, chops, and a number of other dishes!
Ingredients
1/2 lb macaroni noodles (about 2 cups)
2 tbsp butter
3 tbsp flour
1 ½ cups milk
1 cup shredded Gruyere cheese
1 cup shredded white cheddar
1 tbsp plus 1 tsp salt
¼ tsp paprika
¼ tsp ground mustard
Ingredients
1/2 lb macaroni noodles (about 2 cups)
2 tbsp butter
3 tbsp flour
1 ½ cups milk
1 cup shredded Gruyere cheese
1 cup shredded white cheddar
1 tbsp plus 1 tsp salt
¼ tsp paprika
¼ tsp ground mustard
Fill a medium stock pot about halfway with water, and bring it to a rapid simmer over medium or medium-high heat. Add one tablespoon of salt and stir to dissolve into the water. Adjust the temperature to maintain a rapid simmer and add the dried pasta. Cook the pasta to al dente, roughly 10-12 minutes. Drain the pasta into a colander.
Place another pot over low-medium heat. Once the pot is warm, add the butter. Once the butter is melted, add the flour, and whisk the flour into the butter until both are completely blended together into a roux. Allow the roux to cook for about 3 minutes on low. Add ½ cup of milk to the pot slowly, whisking as you add the milk. Whisk until the milk is incorporated into the roux, expanding it. Now add the remaining cup of milk and whisk until the roux is completely incorporated into the milk. Add the salt, paprika, and ground mustard and whisk to fully incorporate. Allow the contents of the pot to simmer and thicken for about 5 minutes.
Once the sauce has thickened, add the cheese a little at a time. Add the gruyere a little at a time and then do the same with the white cheddar. Stir the cheese into the sauce with a spoon as you add it. Keep stirring until the cheese is fully blended into the sauce. Allow the mixture to cook for another minute or two.
Now, add the macaroni noodles to the sauce and stir them into the sauce until they are fully coated in the cheese sauce. The macaroni and cheese is ready to serve.