Mac and cheese is the staple of comfort food! It's great with almost any meal, and satisfies cravings for cheese and pasta! My stove top version of mac and cheese is great for a quick side dish on a weeknight, or even at your next big family meal!

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Childhood on a plate

When I was a kid, we had mac and cheese at least once a week. It was fast, it was filling, and it was something my brother never complained about. Growing up in the Midwest, there was always some even that we were running late for. My brother and I were both active in sports, I was very active in show choir, and we all worked outside the home once my brother and I were older enough. So, mac and cheese was a great side dish to throw on a plate with a slab of meat and get us through the evening meal.

As an adult, I look back on mac and cheese fondly. My mother was never a gourmet cook, but she had a recipe for baked mac and cheese that was well renown in her friends circle. It was made for every pitch in and family function growing up. As I got older, I realized that I loved that baked mac and cheese, but my heart was more in the creamy variety that you find in most restaurants. So, I sat down and I developed my own stove top variety mac and cheese that tastes better than what you find on kids' plates at your local steak house!

The roux we do

Stove top mac and cheese relies on making a great cheese sauce. To make the cheese sauce, we have to start with a bechamel sauce. Bechamel (bay-sha-mel) is one of the five mother sauces from French cuisine. It's the base for several sauces, but here we're going to use it to make a modified mornay sauce. Which is basically a bechamel with cheese! In order to make the bechamel, we have to start with a roux.

We've done a modified roux before (https://tasteoftravis.com/betterthanhelpercheeseburgermacaroni/ .) However, here's the original version of the roux and, in turn, the bechamel. A roux is fairly simple, but it can get away from you if you don't pay attention! Basically, we're going to melt butter until right when it starts bubbling up. From there we're going to add an equal part flour and whisk to combine. At this point you have the base of the roux, but you need to continue to cook for another minute or so to give the flour a chance to cook. If you skip this, you'll end up with a cheese sauce that tastes like raw flour. It's not pretty, trust me. At this point, the roux is ready for the room temperature milk.

Warm milk and cold cheese

Finishing up the cheese sauce is as simple as adding milk and cheese! First, though, we're going to warm up the milk by allowing it to get to room temperature, or even microwaving for about 40 seconds. This allows the milk to become more easily incorporated into the roux. Whisk everything together and let it warm until it thickens being careful not to bring it to a full boil. Once the sauce is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon, it's done! Congratulations, you've made bechamel sauce!

Now, on to the cheese! The great thing about mac and cheese is you can add any kind of cheese that you want as long as it's melty! Traditionally, mac and cheese is made with some combination of cheddar and parm, but if you feel like taking it to a new level you could add gruyere, or even some taleggio. The cheese needs to be added in cold so that it fully melts into the bechamel and makes a very cheesy sauce!

Wrapping it up

Now that we have the cheese sauce, we're just going to pour it over the cooked pasta. As far as pasta goes, you can do traditional elbows and it will be great. My favorite pasta with mac and cheese is Cavatappi, which has ridges on the outside and is a hollowed out corkscrew. This really allows the pasta to grab the cheese and gives you cheese in every bite of your dish!

This mac and cheese will make a great side dish for your next cookout! You can also add your favorite protein (I love this will a little barbecue pulled pork) and turn this into delicious entree in its own right! As always, I hope you enjoy!

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