Recipe: "Mac and Cheese" / Rigatoni au gratin
I think every American child grows up loving Kraft Macaroni and Cheese. I know I certainly did. At times when my parents were eating things I didn’t like, they at least gave me Kraft Mac and Cheese. After all, it was cheap and so easy and quick to make. Something about the fake cheddar flavor with the bright orange color brought together by the butter you added to the pan when you add the cheese packet, just made it… yummy.
The first time my mother tried to serve me penne au gratin, I think I was … eight? I was curious because it was a pasta dish, and I loved pasta. And more than that, I could see the melted cheese on top. And I loved cheese. But I wouldn’t it. Her error was calling it Mac and Cheese, because as soon as she said those words, I said this is not Mac and Cheese. It wasn’t orange. It wasn’t those weirdly straight Macaroni noodles. It was… penne in a cheese sauce that was baked. Mac and Cheese was not baked I told my mother. She eventually gave up and made me what I wanted, Kraft Macaroni and Cheese. But… now looking back… I wish she had forced me to try it, haha.
I know I’ve told the story of how I started cooking before on my website, but this story bares repeating for this dish. My parents’ rule growing up was those who cook do not clean and I hated doing the dishes. So, I tried to start cooking, but I made horrible food. So, my wise parents, made a new rule. If they could make the dish better than I could, I was not allowed to cook. This forced me to find inspiration and recipes in a time when there was no internet. I obviously could have gone over to the cook books that lined two shelves of my parents’ massive bookcase that spans the entire living room wall. But, at that point, I hated reading. So, I turned to television.
Watching The Frugal Gourmet on PBS, since there was no Food Network either, make penne au gratin, I thought… that looks so good. I didn’t connect it with Mac and Cheese, nor the dish my mother called Mac and Cheese. This dish looked so good. So, I made it for dinner one night. After scarfing it down, the gooey cheesy, saltiness of the dish running down my face, my mother looked at me in shock. She told me she had tried to make this for me before.
“No you didn’t!” I yelled back.
That was when she told me it was “Mac and Cheese”. My world changed that day, haha. I have rarely gone back to eating the Kraft processed fake meal that my childhood self loved. I had discovered the real thing.
The great thing about Mac and Cheese is that it is a leftover meal. As long as you have the ingredients to make a Mornay sauce, you can add anything you like. You could add jalapenos and use Mexican cheeses and top it with pico de gallo. Or, you could use sausage and grilled onions. Or you could add roasted asparagus and tomatoes with goat cheese. There are so many options.
This recipe is the base, but, I added a few things around my house. The first is pancetta, everything is better with “bacon”. Pancetta is Italian cured pork belly, similar to bacon, but not smoked. I also added broccoli as I had some left over and well as a carton of mushrooms that needed to be used or tossed.
Bon Appetit!
Ingredients
4 cups of milk
3 tablespoons flour
3 tablespoons butter
1/3 cup of dry white wine
1/4 cup of grated Colby jack (it’s what I happen to have but you could go either all jack or all cheddar. This happens to have both)
½ cup of Gruyere grated
4 slices of American cheese (this can be omitted, but it does provide a creaminess to the dish I love. This addition has its roots in southern Mac and Cheese)
¼ cup Gorgonzola (I love the blue cheese funk added to this dish)
¼ cup of Parmesan grated
1 tablespoon olive oil (split between the pancetta and mushrooms if they need it)
2 slices of pancetta chopped into small cubes
1 pint mushrooms, stems removed, cleaned and sliced
1 broccoli head cut into florets and the stem diced into cubes
Salt and Pepper to taste
1 lb rigatoni or other pasta (I ended up using slightly less than 1 lb because I wanted to keep it creamier so there may be a little pasta left over.)
Begin by bringing a gallon of water with a tablespoon of salt to a boil.
When it is almost to a boil add the broccoli stems (they take longer than the florets). When the water does come to a boil, add the florets to the water and cook for one minute. Remove with a “spider” or strainer and shock in a bowl of ice water. Set aside.
While this is happening, place a large Dutch oven on the stove. Add the pancetta and turn to medium heat. Continually stir to allow the pancetta to render its fat and crisp. If the pancetta is lean, you may need to add a little olive oil to start the process. Once it is browned, removed from the pan with a slotted spoon and drain on a paper towel on a plate, leaving the “pork fat” in the bottom of the pan.
Depending on how much fat from the pancetta, you may just be able to add the mushrooms. If you are, please know that mushrooms are sponges and will absorb most of it. That is good, in that, the heated oil / fat is needed to caramelize the mushrooms. I love mushrooms heavily caramelized. If the mushrooms get too dry in the pan and look like they are sticking to the bottom / burning, add a little oil to encourage the caramelization. When the mushrooms are done, use a slotted spoon to remove and place them on the same plate as the pancetta.
At this point, add in the pasta to the boiling water. Generally, Rigatoni takes 12-13 minutes. Cook for only 10. You want to undercook the pasta as you are going to finish it in the oven. It should be less cooked than al dente.
While this is going on, add the butter to the Dutch oven and melt it. Before it browns, add the flour and stir with a wooden spoon. The mixture should be a very loose paste. Cook the flour through so it is not raw, about 2-3 mins. At this point, deglaze with the white wine. The wine will immediately cause that roux to thicken into a firmer paste. Cook for just a minute to cook off some of the alcohol before adding the milk to the pan. At this point, switch to a whisk and stir vigorously to take out any lumps. Bring to a boil.
Once the sauce is at a boil, it is as thick as the roux will make it. Turn the heat down to low. Begin by adding the American cheese 1 slice at a time, torn up into pieces, and stirring continuously. Once the cheese has melted, add the Gruyere and the Monterrey jack / cheddar. Again do in slow batches and stir vigorously. Once melted, add in the blue cheese. Stir. And finally, add in the Parmesan cheese.
At this point taste for salt and pepper (usually I salt before this step, but the cheese can sometimes be overly salty so salting too much before you add the cheese can ruin the dish). The sauce is done!
Strain the blanched broccoli pieces and add to the sauce. Add the pancetta and mushrooms as well. After that has all been stirred together, add the pasta a little bit at a time to make sure that you don’t overcrowd the sauce and turn the pasta dry.
At this point, you could simmer the pasta for a few minutes on the stove and serve! Or, you can gratin it. Gratin is baking a dish, typically topped with cheese, to caramelize.
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Place the pasta and sauce into a baking pan that has been greased (I use oil spray, but any fat will work). Top with another handful of Parmesan cheese. Gratin for 20 mins in the oven until golden brown and bubbling.
Allow to cool a little. This is unusual. Typically, when a dish is done, the first thing you say is “serve while hot” or “serve immediately”, but, the sauce will thicken as it cools and hold together better. So, allow to cool for 5-10 minutes before serving.
