Mac and Cheese with Mornay Sauce
The American classic made the way it was meant to be: with a Mornay sauce, which is a béchamel with cheese stirred into it. That is the whole difference from the packet version.
The step where it fails is the cheese: it goes into the sauce off the heat. Over heat the fat separates from the protein and the sauce turns oily and grainy instead of glossy — and there is no rescuing it after that.
And the pasta is cooked two minutes short of the packet instructions, because it carries on cooking in the oven.
Ingredients
- 500 g short pasta (elbows or penne)
- 50 g butter
- 50 g all-purpose flour (plain flour)
- 600 ml whole milk
- 250 g good-quality Cheddar, grated
- 100 g Gruyère or Fontina, for depth of flavour
- 1/2 tsp mustard powder (or Dijon)
- A pinch of nutmeg and smoked paprika
- Optional: panko breadcrumbs for the gratin
Method
- 1
Cook the pasta in plenty of salted water until al dente — two minutes less than the packet says, since it will finish cooking in the oven.
- 2
The roux: in a pan, melt the butter and add the flour. Cook over low heat for 2 minutes to get rid of the raw flour taste (a white roux).
- 3
The milk base: add the milk gradually while whisking vigorously with a balloon whisk to avoid lumps. Cook until it thickens and coats the back of a spoon.
- 4
The Mornay sauce: take the pan off the heat and only then stir in the cheeses, the mustard, the nutmeg and the paprika. Mix until the cheese has melted completely and the sauce is glossy and silky. Heat is what ruins it: on the hob the fat in the cheese separates from the protein and the sauce turns oily and grainy, with no going back.
- 5
Assembling and gratinating: mix the pasta with the sauce, pour into an ovenproof dish, cover with a little more cheese and the panko for a crisp finish. Bake for 15 minutes at 200 °C until it bubbles and browns.