Maccharoni and cheese are like sea and salt, fish and chips or potato dumplings with sauce. A perfect pair, which belongs together. And like dumplings with sauce this is true soulfood!
I wanted to give you this recipe for such a long time, but I never managed to take a good photo. This meal is so easy and you only need simple ingredients that are mostly at home after all. I make it when I’m out of ideas, lazy and hungry! After that I always want to eat in an instant and the daylight is already gone, too!
The photo isn’t what I would describe as a good photo to me. I tried my new softbox and after playing around with Lightroom a bit, the photo is usable. Although it isn’t good for my criterions, this is “only” my blog and I need to stay realistic and show you the recipes I like the most ;). It’s autumn now (and feels like winter) and daylight is only there when I’m at work. And that are mostly the days when I’m making dishes like maccharoni and cheese.
I made this dish about 20 times and I’m in love every time! Maccharoni and cheese are not just pasta with cheese, but pasta with a bechamel-cheese-sauce, which makes this dish so damn good! This dish is definitely not on the light side, but therefor it’s vegetarian 😉 and a nice winter dish!
I use the recipe from the book The Pioneer Woman Cooks by Ree Drummond. The book is all about down-to-earth US dishes, spiked with some “extraordinary” recipes by Ree. The Mexican influence is noticable, especially in a lot of breakfast recipes (like huevos rancheros for example). The sweet stuff is almost no edible, because it’s way too sweet, typically American. It’s the first book of Ree and it also shows her life at the ranch and her family. It’s very beautiful and equipped with step-by-step instructions like on her blog. If you want to dive in the typical American cliché, but long for working simple recipes, you are just right with this book!
Two years ago: wild boar with rose hip sauce
Three years ago: homemade chocolate bars
Four years ago: eggnog & gingerbread
Five years ago:
Maccharoni and Cheese
adapted from The Pioneer Woman Cooks by Ree Drummond
yields: 4 – 6 portions
Ingredients:
- 500 g short maccharoni
- salt
- 200 g strong cheese like gruyere, coarsely grated
- 30 g butter
- 40 g wheat flour
- 500 ml milk
- 2 tsp mustard
- 1 egg
- pepper, freshly ground
- a bit of chili powder (depending on the pungency of the chili, please try this out with your favourite chili powder)
- butter for the pan
Bring a large pot of water to the boil, salt and cook the maccharoni until al dente. Better a bit too al dente than too soft! Drain, rinse with cold water and drain again.
Meanwhile melt the butter in a saucepan and whisk in the flour. When the flour is incorporated, add the milk and cook at medium heat until the sauce thickens. Whisk from time to time so no lumps are forming and the sauce doesn’t burn! Whisk in the mustard. Remove the saucepan from the heat.
Whisk the egg in a small bowl. Add a bit of sauce to the egg (50 – 100 ml) and whisk instantly. Whisk the egg into the rest of the bechamel sauce. Heat the sauce again until it thickens further while whisking. Stir in 2/3 of the cheese and let it melt. Remove the saucepan from the heat.
Season with salt and pepper and a bit of chili powder (be careful, see ingredients list!)
Butter a baking dish.
Stir together the pasta with the sauce. Spread the pasta in the baking dish and sprinkle with the rest of the cheese.
Bake the casserole at 200° C for 25 – 30 minutes until it browns.
Optional: Turn to grill (about 230° C or default) after 20 minutes and grill the casserole for another 5 – 10 minutes.
Serve immediately!
Leftovers can be stored in the fridge for several days.
Ich hätte mir das nicht ansehen sollen! Jetzt will ich das – sofort! – haben, und dabei war doch schon das Frühstück so üppig … Diese Spiralbesen verwende ich übrigens auch, allerdings habe ich einen mit Kunststoffspirale, was beim intensiven Quirlen das Gehör doch sehr schont. 😉
Ich hab mich schon so an das Geräusch gewöhnt ;), aber ein Besen mit Kunststoffspirale ist ein guter Tipp!
Und sodass gleich zum Frühstück. Ich glaub, das muss es heute zum Abendessen geben.
Gute Idee ;)! Guten Appetit!
Hm, sieht gut aus. Und scheint ja schnell und einfach zu sein. Genau das Richtige für mich.
[…] wenn Lena von Coconut & Vanilla den amerikanischen Comfort-Food-Klassiker Macaroni & Cheese inzwischen schon an die zwanzigmal gemacht hat, liebt sie ihn immer noch genauso wie beim ersten […]
Habs gerade nachgekocht und muss sagen, ich bin schwer begeistert!
Allerdings habe ich auch noch etwas variiert: Die Soße habe ich mit dem Tellerbesen von o.g. Hersteller gerührt – hat auch prima geklappt 🙂 Und als zusätzliche Würze habe ich jeweils noch eine Prise Paprika sowie eine Messerspitze Pimentón de la Vera hinzu gegeben. Außerdem habe ich mangels Chillipulver einfach zwei kleine getrocknete Chillischoten hinein gebröselt.
Auf jeden Fall hat es uns großartig geschmeckt und wir sitzen hier pappsatt mit dicken Bäuchen 😉
Vielen Dank für das tolle Rezept!
Freut mich sehr, dass es euch geschmeckt hat! Die Maccharoni kann man wirklich gut noch verfeinern mit allem was einem gefällt und schmeckt!