THE BEST MAC & CHEESE RECIPE EVER

Mac and cheese .

It's something I requested a lot .

And for good reason , it's one of the most ultimate comfort foods .

It's super delicious and it's really not that hard to make .

So let's not make mac and cheese with a packet anymore , please .

So it's Easter weekend , all the families around .

Uh It's a really good one to make ahead of time because you can just bake it off .

Uh And then that's your kind of carb sorted .

Um So let's get into it .

This is what you're gonna need the local ways the ingredients will be listed below .

So I don't feel like you have to write this down .

So the pasta now I like the elbows .

Um But the macaroni also works really well , but you want a small format pasta and then to make your basic ro you obviously gonna need some flour , some butter , some milk .

Uh I like to also flavor it with a little bit of smoked paprika and salt and pepper .

And then the most important star of the show , the cheese .

Now you can use a few different varieties , but as a basis , you kind of want to use a ayr cheddar and then something nutty .

So I really like using in my mac and cheese .

I think that's a really key cheese to use and then cheddar .

So I've got some aged English cheddar and I've got some smoked King Island dairy Tasmanian cheddar .

And I think that look that little smoky Hin also adds another really awesome dimension to this dish .

So let's get started first up , er , get a big pot of water on salt it heavily uh ready for your macaroni .

So the next step is to get your ingredients ready to make your roux .

Um So dice your butter and then measure out your milk uh and get that milk into a sauce pan just to start warming through .

And what this does is makes it uh less prone to making lumps when you're stirring it into your butter and flour in a second .

So get that in a low heat and while that's warming up , grate your cheese and this is where I'm gonna bang on about how important it is to grate your own cheese and not to be lazy and buy the pre graded stuff .

Um , it doesn't take that long and it makes a huge difference .

So , onto cooking your pasta and you're boiling water and there's just salt in here , there's no need to put oil as long as you're stirring it every 3 to 4 minutes .

Uh and that just stops it from clomping and sticking on the bottom .

So , in another sauce bin , put your butter in there on low heat to melt .

Um And while you're waiting for that melt , keep stirring that pasta .

Um once your butter's melted , you're gonna add your flour and give that a whisk , making sure you've got no lumps .

So this is the point where we need to start adding that warm milk to this , this root , this flour and butter mixture .

Uh and the key to this is to make sure you're whisking it in um slowly and you don't just dump it all in there at once .

So one ladle at a time making sure it's completely homogenous and mixed through before we add more .

Um So don't be afraid to take your time with us .

Um Once you start getting lumps , it takes a lot of work to get them out .

So take your time , one ladle or maybe two if it's uh a bit further in the process , um a nice mix till it's completely smooth before you rinse and repeat the step until all your milk is incorporated .

So this is a super handy technique to get the hang of .

It's um the basis of a lot of white sauces um and used on a lot of different cuisines around the world .

So if you're not used to making a white sauce like this , um then it's a great one to master .

So the last of the milk to go in um give that a final mix to make sure it's completely homogenized and smooth and then on to getting the cheese in there and getting it seasoned .

Right .

But before we do that , our pasta's ready .

So , pour that out , uh , and then run some cold water over that just to stop that pasta from cooking .

Um , get that completely cooled down .

It doesn't need to be ice cold , but it just needs to be cold enough that you can handle it .

So , onto cheesing up our white sauce .

So we've got our three different types of cheese there grated and we're just gonna , we're gonna whisk that in , in , in two stages and that's also to stop lumines getting in there .

So take your time , uh , whisk it slowly , um , until it's completely melted and uh , one sauce add the second part of the cheese , making sure you keep behind another couple of handfuls to go on the top .

So , and all that cheese , we're gonna leave behind about this much , um , for the top of it , which seems like quite a lot .

But , um , you know , it's a decent , a decent size dish we're gonna pour this into .

So we wanna make sure we have enough cheese to get good coverage all over that dish to have a lovely golden top .

So here's our white sauce pretty much finished .

We just need to make sure it's uh seasoned correctly .

So give it a taste .

Um , I chose to put a little bit more salt in but probably didn't need that much anyway .

Uh And then we're also gonna season it with a lot of black ground pepper uh and some smoked paprika .

So whisk that in to start with , give it another taste .

Make sure you're happy with the seasoning .

I want more pepper .

I like it quite peppery .

So one final mix and then we're ready to start assembling the macaroni cheese .

So back in a larger pot , add in your macaroni , pour over your sauce and make sure that's really well incorporated .

Um You wanna mix this for a good couple of minutes because you want that every single piece of macaroni or pasta , I should say completely covered in sauce before we put it in our dish to bake .

So in your in your oven safe dish .

Um and you wanna make sure it doesn't come completely at the top , we will end up with a pretty big mess in your oven and then Sprinkle over the rest of the grated cheese evenly across the top .

Um Now , one thing I didn't mention in the start of the video is I also like to add uh a few handfuls of panco bread crumbs at the top .

This is completely optional .

Um But I find it helps the top just crisp up a bit more so into 100 and 80 degree oven for sort of 25 to 30 minutes or until it's beautiful and golden .

So there it is the perfect mac and cheese .

It's so easy to make , uh , and far better than the packet stuff .

So , make sure you make , this goes really well with a prime rib or a big cut of meat .

Um , and like I was saying , at the start , um , get it to the stage where it was about to go in the oven , chuck it in the fridge and you can just heat it up again the next day and get this nice crusty top .

But I think the time has come to try some .

Do .

Hm .

It was so good .

The soft macaroni creamy cheese , a crunchy top .

It doesn't get any better .

And the slight undertone of smokiness with that smoked cheddar really sets it off .

Absolutely delicious .

Alright guys , you know the story , please like this video helps me heaps , subscribe , leave a comment uh and jump on my tiktok .

If you want me to do one of these with your favorite dish , you never know .

It might come true how you guys peace .