5 Cheese Holiday Macaroni and Cheese

best-southern-macaroni-and-cheese-recipe

Course Main, Side Dish

Cuisine American, Southern

Keyword 5-cheese-holiday-mac-and-cheese, holiday-macaroni-and-cheese, macaroni-and-cheese-recipes

Prep Time 30

Cook Time 35

Total Time 1 5

Servings servings

Calories 470kcal

Author Melissa Sperka

Ingredients

1 16 oz box cavatappi pasta
1/2 cup butter plus 3 Tbsp for the topping
1/2 cup all purpose flour
2 tsp dry mustard
1 1/2-2 tsp salt
1/2-1 tsp white pepper
5 cups whole milk plus additional, as needed
2 cups shredded asiago cheese
2 cups shredded white sharp cheddar cheese
2 cups shredded fontina cheese
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese divided
Crumb topping:
2 slices white bread
1/3 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese
3 Tbsp unsalted butter melted

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Spray a 13x9-inch baking dish with butter flavored or classic nonstick cooking spray. Set aside.
Cook the cavatappi pasta in boiling salted water per the instructions on the box, until al dente. Drain well.
Meanwhile, by hand shred the asiago, Italian (or Vermont) sharp cheddar, fontina and mozzarella cheeses, into a medium size mixing bowl. Toss together until they are evenly combined.
Sauce: In a medium size heavy bottomed saucepan, melt butter over medium high heat.. Add flour stirring until flour is absorbed. Add salt, pepper, mustard and white pepper. Cook on medium heat for about 1 minute whisking constantly.
Gradually add the milk, whisking constantly. (The roux tends to stay around the edge of the pot, so be certain to incorporate all of the roux so the sauce will thicken.)
Bring to a gentle boil testing the thickness. [Add more milk 1/2 cup at a time only if the sauce needs to be thinned.]
Immediately lower the heat and allow to gently bubble on low for 5 minutes until the flour has cooked and the sauce is creamy and thickened.
To the sauce add 1/3 of the shredded cheese mixture and 1/2 cup of grated Parmesan cheese. Mix until melted and blended well.
Add drained pasta to the sauce. Stir until the pasta is evenly coated.
Pour 1/2 of the pasta into the prepared baking dish. Sprinkle with 1/3 of the grated cheese mixture. Repeat layers ending with the final 1/3 shredded cheese.
Buttered Breadcrumbs: Remove crusts from two slices of bread. Pulse bread in a food processor until it becomes fine crumbs. Mix with 1/2 cup of grated Parmesan cheese and three tablespoons melted butter.
Sprinkle the fresh buttered breadcrumbs on top of the macaroni and cheese.
Place into the preheated oven and bake for 30-40 minutes or until golden brown and bubbly, then serve.

Notes

Cheese: The blend of cheese in this dish is one that I wouldn't change at all. That said, you could adapt using a similar flavor blend of cheeses to suit your taste. You could swap out mozzarella and use monterey jack cheese, colby jack cheese or pepper jack cheese for spice.

Breadcrumbs: You could use panko bread crumbs in place of fresh breadcrumbs. You'll need around 3/4-1 cup.

Cavatappi: Cavatappi pasta has ridges that allow the sauce to really cling to the pasta. If you can't find it, you could substitute any pasta with ridges such as a mini penne, or ziti or use classic elbow macaroni noodles.

Spices: You can add a dash or nutmeg or use black pepper in place of white pepper, if that's what you have on hand. This is one time I do recommend white pepper for the spicy pepper flavor without the color.

Herbs: You could garnish the top with fresh parsley or chives.

Milk: You could replace the milk with half and half or replace one cup of milk with heavy cream for even more decadence.

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