Three Cheese Mac and Cheese
This is the easiest Mac and Cheese you'll ever make with three different types of cheeses melting into a sauce that is creamy with just that right touch of stringiness! Add a crisp layer of panko breadcrumbs on top to elevate it by a few crunchy notches!
Ingredients
- 120 gm macaroni/ pasta of choice
- 2 tbsp butter
- 2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
- 2 tbsp all-purpose flour
- hefty pinch of sea salt
- few grinds of black pepper
- 1 cup milk + more as required
- ½ - ⅔ cup sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
- ⅓ - ½ cup parmesan, grated
- 2 - 4 tbsp mozzarella, diced
For the breadcrumb layer (optional)
- 1 tbsp butter
- ⅓ cup breadcrumbs (panko breadcrumbs is preferable)
Instructions
Cook pasta
- Cook the pasta in a pot of boiling salted water until just shy of al dente (firm to the bite). Drain and set aside the cooked pasta
Prepare breadcrumb toppings
- Melt a tbsp of butter in a skillet and add the breadcrumbs, stirring until the crumbs are evenly coated and cooked but not yet golden brown. Remove from heat and set aside.
Make the sauce
- Melt 2 tbsp of butter (you can use the same skillet in which you cooked the bread crumb mixture). Sauté garlic in the melted butter until fragrant.
- Add the flour, salt and pepper, stirring continuously for a few minutes until the flour is cooked through and the mixture smoothens (at least 3-4 minutes).
- Slowly add the milk to this butter-flour mixture (on low heat), continuously whisking it in so that the sauce comes together with a smooth consistency. Keep stirring (another few minutes) until the sauce starts to thicken and is bubbling.
- Switch off the heat. Now add in the different types cheeses one by one. First stir in the shredded cheddar until it melts into the sauce. Then, stir in the parmesan and finally, the mozzarella. Ensure that you keep stirring after each addition so that each of the cheeses completely melts and emulsifies into the sauce.
- Toss in the macaroni and fold it into the sauce until it is totally coated with the cheese sauce.
Bake the mac and cheese
- As an optional step: pour the mac and cheese out into an oven-proof dish. Top with the panko bread crumb mixture and bake/ broil in a pre-heated oven until the top is golden brown and you can see the cheese bubbling.
- Alternatively if you do not wish to broil the mac and cheese, cook the panko bread crumb mixture until the bread crumbs are golden brown. Then simply scatter the bread crumbs over the pasta before serving.
