Classic Oven Macaroni Cheese

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Jasmine

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Today, we’re talking mac ‘n’ cheese and I thought I’d share my classic recipe, after having already shared two variants of it! It’s festive season and this is the kind of food that always goes down well. I’ve also made it a one-pot to save on faff and washing up…

INGREDIENTS

Sauce base:

Flour

Butter

Whole milk

Mustard (this helps to emulsify the sauce – I like wholegrain but any mustard will do)

Garlic (for added flavour)

Cheeses:

Cheddar (this is a great crisping-up cheese – just reduce the % of this vs. your melting cheese if you’re using a mature cheddar, as it won’t get as stringy)

Gruyère (or another vegetarian semi-hard cheese – this is your melting cheese to make things nice and creamy)

Pecorino (or any Italian hard cheese – this is packed full of flavour and depth)

Buffalo mozzarella (or any vegetarian mozzarella variety – this gives it that satisfying stringiness and helps crisp the top)

Pasta:

Cavatappi (any tubular shape that captures plenty of sauce within it will do – traditionally a spiral shape like this is used)

Toppings:

Panko breadcrumbs (this type of breadcrumb can reach higher temperatures without burning, which is why I tend to recommend them, but normal breadcrumbs can work, if you keep an eye on your food whilst it’s grilling)

Olive oil (to mix the breadcrumbs into so they go nicely golden)

Cherry tomatoes (optional)

Fresh herbs (optional – I chose parsley, but chives work really well too)

TIPS

I actually reworked this to be a one-pot because I recently got a shallow enamelled cast iron casserole dish (no, it’s not Le Creuset – it was under £35 from Argos! Check it out here) but you can do this with separate stove-top pots and pans and a standard glass / ceramic oven dish (covered in foil instead of the lid) if you like, this is just a time-saver for the festive season.

This is a really simple recipe but I’d just add that I really do recommend using a blend of cheeses to add that depth of flavour, ensuring that you’re using plenty of your melting cheese to ensure everything fully-incorporated into the sauce. I recommend reserving a little pasta water in a bowl after you’ve cooked it because if you’re struggling with a chunky sauce that isn’t smooth, the starch in the pasta water can help emulsify everything together.

Classic Oven Macaroni Cheese

  • Servings: 4
  • Difficulty: Easy
  • Print

A classic oven macaroni cheese that's perfect for festive season

No special equipment or advance prep needed.

Ingredients

  • 250g of Cavatappi
  • 50g of butter
  • 2 cloves of garlic (crushed)
  • 50g of flour
  • 1 tbsp of mustard
  • up to 1 pint of whole milk
  • 150g of cheddar cheese (grated)
  • 100g of Italian hard cheese (finely grated)
  • 50g of semi-hard cheese (grated)
  • 125g of mozzarella (slice if not already in pearl form)
  • 1/4 of a cup of panko breadcrumbs
  • 3 baby plum tomatoes (halved) (optional)
  • 1 sprig of fresh parsley (c.1g)(chopped) (optional)
  • Salt and pepper for seasoning

Directions

  1. Preheat the oven to 200C and boil the kettle
  2. Bring the water to a rolling boil in your casserole dish (or separate saucepan), salt the water and then add the pasta – cook until just shy of al dente (if ‘cooked’ is 12 minutes, for example, al dente will be 10 minutes, so you want to cook for 8-9), drain (reserve a little pasta water) and set aside
  3. Melt the butter in your casserole dish (or saucepan) and cook the garlic in the melted butter for a couple of minutes until fragrant
  4. Add half of the Italian hard cheese into a bowl with the breadcrumbs and olive oil, season with black pepper and mix together to create your topping
  5. Add the flour to your garlic butter and whisk together
  6. After a couple of minutes, reduce the heat slightly to low-medium and begin gradually adding in the milk in small batches, whisking in-between each batch so its integrated with the roux
  7. Once the sauce is slightly runnier than your desired consistency, add the mustard, turn off the heat and begin adding in the cheese gradually, whisking it in and allowing it to melt (reserve around 1/4 to 1/3 for the top) – if your sauce looks chunky, add in that pasta water you saved earlier
  8. Combine the cooked pasta with the sauce, ensuring it’s completely coated in your casserole dish (or saucepan)
  9. Add the mixture to an oven dish (if not using a casserole dish) and sprinkle over the remaining cheese mix
  10. Add your pieces of mozzarella (ensuring that when it melts it will cover most of the top of the pasta)
  11. Sprinkle over your panko breadcrumb topping
  12. Add your fresh herbs (parsley or chives) and halved cherry tomatoes, if you’re using them
  13. Cover the oven dish with its lid or some foil and bake for around 20-25 minutes
  14. Remove the lid or foil and switch to the grill setting on your oven (at a medium temperature) and cook the macaroni cheese under it for a further 10 minutes until the cheese topping is golden

Let me know if you give this macaroni cheese recipe a try! And you can see how I do it here:

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