This One Pot, No Roux Macaroni and Cheese Is Insanely Creamy
I am an equal opportunity eater of pasta. I love this baked one. I love this cooked with ru. I even like the blue box. You might think Kraft’s convenience is impossible to beat, but you’re wrong. This homemade recipe takes about 15 minutes to cook with just one saucepan (no need to drain) and no dressing.
Two things make this recipe simple and effective. First, the pasta is boiled in milk rather than water, which means that the starch that is released remains, rather than drained. The shredded cheese is coated with a little cornstarch for a smooth, non-lumpy, smooth and rich cheese sauce. It’s simple. It’s creamy. It’s hard not to eat everything in one sitting. To make it you will need:
- 2 cups dry pasta
- 2 1/2 cups whole milk
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 8 ounces grated cheese (I used cheddar, but feel free to stir it)
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon of your choice of mustard (yellow, Dijon and stone – all have their merits)
- Hot sauce (optional)
Pour the milk into a saucepan and season with salt. Add oil, bring to a boil and add pasta. Reduce heat to a simmer and simmer until the pasta is tender and the milk thickens. (If the milk evaporates too quickly, just add some more.) While the pasta is cooking, stir the cheese with the cornstarch to coat each strand. Add mustard and hot sauce (to taste) to the pasta, season with salt and pepper if necessary, then add cheese, handful by hand, letting each dissolve completely before adding the next.
Enjoy the sticky cheese mass of carbohydrates when planning your next serving. Not only is this recipe very quick and easy, but it also adapts very well to variations, which means you can run our silly experiments almost as quickly as you can think of them.