Baked Macaroni and Cheese | Recipes for Cooking Basics

I was out of town with friends this weekend, and we got onto one of my favorite topics of conversation: “What would you eat all the time in a consequence free world?” I eagerly shouted, “Macaroni and cheese!” While there is definitely a long list of other answers to this question, macaroni and cheese ranks high. Kraft’s blue box, Annie’s shells, homemade creamy stovetop or crispy baked – I’ve never met a macaroni and cheese recipe that I haven’t eagerly devoured.

While I love them all, I do have favorites. One of my go-to macaroni and cheese preparation methods starts with a roux. If you don’t know what a roux is, it’s a great cooking basic to know. It’s a blend of melted butter and flour (usually in equal parts) and it works as a natural thickener for soups and sauces, such as gumbo or bechamel. In this case, it’s the thickener for our velveety cheese sauce (can we say homemade Velveeta?). Plus, starting with a roux allows us to use lower-fat milk and less cheese since we have a natural thickening agent. You are more than welcome to use whole milk and all the cheese you want, but I like to keep it light so I can indulge more frequently, with just a few [worth it] consequences.

This preparation also gives you the flexibility of eating this straight off the stove or poured into a baking pan (or mini-pans like the photo above) and topped with panko for a baked option. Let your tastes and the time you have guide your decision. I also like to use fresh pasta for this. It makes it feel so much more special. Plus, it cooks a lot quicker than dried pasta and makes this dish come together almost as quickly as the boxed variety. This doesn’t mean that I don’t have a stash of Annie’s in my pantry for when I HAVE to have macaroni and cheese and find myself sans cheese. I like to be prepared for emergencies.