My Perfect Macaroni and Cheese Recipe

Martha Stewart's "Perfect Macaroni and Cheese" was pretty close to perfect, but I've made a couple tiny tweaks to make it perfect for me and the family. By using Panko instead of her "buttered breadcrumbs", I save oven space (for all those other Thanksgiving dishes) and I get more of the cheesy crunch across the top (love!). By using a tbsp more butter but 2% milk - it helps keep this mac 'n cheese rich and gooey, but not as heavy which is the only fat sacrifice made for this dish.

Hope you enjoy this as much as we did! We lamented at the lack of leftovers :(

Perfect Macaroni and Cheese: macaroni, butter, flour, 2% milk, gruyere, sharp white cheddar, parmesan, panko, parsley, etc.

Perfect Macaroni and Cheese
Adapted from Martha Stewart's Recipe, Volume 66 February 1999

You can easily double this recipe; use a 3 quart casserole dish if you do.
Serves 6

4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, plus more for dish
2 3/4 cups 2% milk
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon kosher salt (or more to taste)
⅛ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper (or more to taste)
⅛ teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 ¼ cups (about 9 ounces) grated sharp white cheddar
1 cup (about 4 ounces) grated Gruyere
½ pound elbow macaroni
½ cup grated Parmigiano Reggiano
¾ cup Panko breadcrumbs
2 tbsp freshly chopped parsley

• Heat the oven to 375 degrees. Butter a 1.5-quart casserole dish; set aside. Combine panko, parsley, and parmesan in a small dish; set aside. In a medium saucepan set over medium heat, heat milk until steaming but not boiling. Melt 3 tablespoons butter in a high-sided skillet over medium heat. When butter bubbles, add flour. Whisk with a flat whisk until smooth, 1 minute.

• Slowly pour hot milk into flour-butter mixture while whisking. Continue cooking, whisking constantly, until the mixture bubbles and becomes thick (coats a spoon).

• Remove the pan from the heat. Stir in salt, nutmeg, black pepper, cayenne pepper, 1.5 cups cheddar, and 3/4 cup Gruyere. Season with salt to taste. Set cheese sauce aside.

• Fill a large saucepan with water. Bring to a boil. Salt water. Add macaroni; cook 2 to 3 fewer minutes than manufacturer's directions, until outside of pasta is cooked and inside is underdone (not crunchy though). Transfer the macaroni to a colander, rinse under cold running water, and drain well. Stir macaroni into the reserved cheese sauce.

• Pour the mixture into the prepared casserole dish. Sprinkle remaining 3/4 cup cheddar and 1/4 cup Gruyere; sprinkle panko mixture on top. Dab remaining butter in spots on top. Bake until browned on top and bubbly on the edges, about 30 minutes. If the top isn’t crispy enough, broil for a few minutes but watch carefully. Transfer dish to a wire rack to cool for 5 minutes; serve.

An Easy to Work With Fresh Pasta Dough At Home

So after making angel food cake at home (separate post to come later), I wound up with 12 egg yolks with no plans. Thus began my attempt to find a recipe that could use as many of the yolks at one time.

Good thing Jen from Canada's Food & Family already did the legwork and made it super easy with her Recipes to Use Up Extra Egg Yolks. Conveniently organized by 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 12 egg yolk recipes - I was hooked by Thomas Keller's French Laundry Pasta Dough, made available by Smitten Kitchen with fantastic step by step pictures. Probably because I had all the other ingredients handy already, plus fresh pasta is so easy to freeze and use later. Here's a quick refresher on how to freeze fresh pasta.

Technically, this is a 7 yolk pasta dough recipe, but it requires 6 yolks and 1 egg. Along with all purpose flour, olive oil (I use my favorite lucero ascolano olive oil), milk, and some good old fashioned work - you'll get some of the best tasting pasta, and easiest to work with fresh pasta dough I've ever tried. It makes rolling pasta with a the Imperia Pasta Machine so smooth and simple. I've easily gone down to even setting number 2 for paper thin pasta sheets that I plan to use for homemade lasagna and cut up to about 3/4 inch for some pappardelle. Each batch makes about 13-14oz of pasta.

Yes, it is probably a fatty pasta but it is worth it. I may also have made 4 batches at this point...thanks Smitten Kitchen!

Tip: Be sure to follow the 2 below steps I've repeated below. It'll make the process so much easier, speaking from experience :)

"When the dough begins thickening and starts lifting itself from the board, begin incorporating the remaining flour with the pastry scraper by lifting the flour up and over the dough that’s beginning to form and cutting it into the dough. When the remaining flour from the sides of the well has been cut into the dough, the dough will still look shaggy. Bring the dough together with the palms of your hands and form it into a ball. It will look flaky but will hold together."

"Even if you think you are finished kneading, knead it for an extra 10 minutes; you cannot overknead this dough. It is important to work the dough long enough to pass the pull test; otherwise, when it rests, it will collapse." - Smitten Kitchen

Fresh Fettuccine

Homemade Fettuccine: unbleached all purpose flour, 6 egg yolks, 1 egg, olive oil, 2% milk. rolled at setting 3.

 Fresh Spaghetti

Homemade Spaghetti: unbleached all purpose flour, 6 egg yolks, 1 egg, olive oil, 2% milk. rolled at setting 3 (this is more like a pasta between angel hair and spaghetti because it is so delicate!)