The Perfect Comfort Food: A Step-by-Step Guide to Making Macaroni and Cheese

Who doesn't love macaroni and cheese? Rich and creamy on the inside, with that crunchy breadcrumb topping, it might just be the most perfect comfort food ever invented. To make this classic dish, we need to start by boiling the pasta for the macaroni and cheese. While the pasta is cooking, let's get started on preparing the topping – the breadcrumbs.

Toasting Breadcrumbs: A Crucial Step in Achieving the Perfect Crunch

First, we need to toast the breadcrumbs that are going to go on top of our macaroni and cheese. Panko bread crumbs are a Japanese brand that make an awesome crunchy topping. They're not really going to be in the oven long enough to get that nice golden brown, so let's toast them first on the stove top. See how my breads are getting pretty golden brown now? That's what we want for the topping – a nice, crispy texture. Now it's time to mix in our first cheese: a little Parmesan for its nutty saltiness and some fresh thyme for a little fresh hit and a nice green color. Just give that a mix with my hands and then add a pinch of salt.

The Secret to a Creamy Macaroni and Cheese

The key to a creamy macaroni and cheese is the roux – it's like the base to your cheese sauce. To make it, we need to melt two more tablespoons of butter in a medium skillet over medium heat. Then, for extra flavor, let's add some grated onion and garlic. These will give us great flavor, but also since they're grated, they'll help keep our sauce really silky smooth. Now, let's cook those down a little bit to keep our sauce creamy not watery.

Next, we need to whisk in some flour – this is the base of our roux. We sprinkle that into the butter and onions and use a whisk to incorporate it all together. Let's cook this for at least a minute until the raw flour taste is cooked out. Then, let's add some warm milk – one I just stuck in the microwave so it's nice and hot. Whisk that in until it's smooth. If we added the milk cold, the melted butter would seize up and that means clumpy sauce.

Adding Cheese to Our Roux

Now it's time for our cheese: three different types – Fontina is an awesome melter that will keep our sauce really rich and creamy. Then there's sharp white cheddar for its great flavor. And finally, there are olit Cher cheeses – they're going to add a nice depth of flavor to our sauce. Let's whisk those in until they're melted and smooth. Now we need to add some ground dried mustard powder – it's classic for macaroni and cheese and helps cut the richness in our cream sauce. And just a pinch of cayenne to wake up all those flavors.

Adding Pasta to Our Cheese Sauce

At this point, my sauce is perfect – I'm going to pull it off the heat when I add the pasta, because we don't want it to cook anymore. These are cavat tapy noodles – short and curly, cute but any short pasta will work. Let's just fold them in until everything is coated with our cheese sauce.

Putting It All Together: Assembling Our Macaroni and Cheese

Now that our sauce and pasta are ready, let's put it all together. We're going to bake this in two stages – first half way through 10 minutes or so, then add the breadcrumbs back into the oven. That's why we toasted them first – they need a little extra crispiness on top. Let's take a look at how our macaroni and cheese is coming along now.

A Glimpse of Perfection: Golden Brown Breadcrumbs on Top

This looks great! The golden brown breadcrumbs are crunchy on top, rich and creamy inside... let's give it a try. Oh wow – look at that creamy center! It's pretty good – perfect for this delicious macaroni and cheese.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enwho doesn't love macaroni and cheese rich and creamy on the inside with that crunchy breadcrumb topping it might just be the most perfect comfort food ever invented ready while boiling the pasta for the macaroni and cheese go ahead and toast the breadcrumbs that are going to go on top so I'm going to melt 2 tablespoons of butter in a skillet over like medium heat you don't want it to Brown then I'm going to add add some panko so panko are Japanese breadcrumb and they make an awesome crunchy topping and I'm toasting them first on the stove top because they're not really going to be in the oven long enough to get that nice golden brown okay so see my breads are really pretty golden brown now that's what we want for the topping okay and now I'm going to mix in our first cheese a little Parmesan for like nutty saltiness and then some fresh thyme gives a little fresh hit and also some nice green color so just give that a mix with my hands and then give it a little salt okay that's good to go so the key to a creamy macaroni and cheese is the bashel it's like the base to your cheese sauce so to make it I'm going to melt two more tablespoons of butter in a medium Skillet again over like medium heat you don't want it to get too hot and then for extra flavor I've got some grated onion and some grated garlic these these give great flavor but also since I grated it it's going to keep the sauce really silky smooth and I'm just going to cook those down a little bit to keep my sauce creamy not watery okay now I'm going to whisk in some flour this is the base of AO basically sprinkle that in and use a whisk to incorporate it into the butter and onions so I'm going to cook and whisk the flour for like at least a minute that's going to cook out that raw flour taste and next I'm going to add some War warm milk this one I just stuck in the microwave so a little bit at a time and whisk it in to incorporate and when it's smooth you're good to go add some more milk if I added the milk cold the melted butter in here would seize and that means clumpy sauce so I'm going to bring this to a simmer and let it cook until it's a little bit thicker and I'm going to whisk every once in a while just to make sure it stays creamy and we've got no lumps now time for the cheese I'm using three different types I've got font it's an awesome melter it's going to keep that sauce really rich and creamy and then some sharp white cheddar and guer these are olit Cher they're going to add great flavor to the sauce so then I'm just going to whisk those in until they're melted and smooth I'm going to add some ground dried mustard powder it's classic for macaroni and cheese and helps cut the richness in the cream sauce and just a pinch of cayenne a little bit of heat helps to wake up all those flavors whisk those in until smooth now time to add the pasta at this point my sauce is perfect so I'm going to pull it off the heat when I add the pasta cuz I don't want it to cook anymore so these are cavat tapy they're short and curly they're cute but any short pasta will work so noodles into the sauce I'm just going to fold them in until everything's coated with the cheese sauce so now into the baking dish I'm going to bake this in two stages into the oven so I'm going to bake it about halfway 10 minutes or so and then add the breadcrumbs that's why we toasted them first okay so this has been baking for about 10 minutes it's nice and hot now the breadcrumbs back in the oven okay this looks great golden brown and crunchy on top rich and creamy inside let's give it a try oh wow look at that creamy center pretty good perfect for this delicious mac and cheese and more comfort food Classics go to bona.com comfort see you next timewho doesn't love macaroni and cheese rich and creamy on the inside with that crunchy breadcrumb topping it might just be the most perfect comfort food ever invented ready while boiling the pasta for the macaroni and cheese go ahead and toast the breadcrumbs that are going to go on top so I'm going to melt 2 tablespoons of butter in a skillet over like medium heat you don't want it to Brown then I'm going to add add some panko so panko are Japanese breadcrumb and they make an awesome crunchy topping and I'm toasting them first on the stove top because they're not really going to be in the oven long enough to get that nice golden brown okay so see my breads are really pretty golden brown now that's what we want for the topping okay and now I'm going to mix in our first cheese a little Parmesan for like nutty saltiness and then some fresh thyme gives a little fresh hit and also some nice green color so just give that a mix with my hands and then give it a little salt okay that's good to go so the key to a creamy macaroni and cheese is the bashel it's like the base to your cheese sauce so to make it I'm going to melt two more tablespoons of butter in a medium Skillet again over like medium heat you don't want it to get too hot and then for extra flavor I've got some grated onion and some grated garlic these these give great flavor but also since I grated it it's going to keep the sauce really silky smooth and I'm just going to cook those down a little bit to keep my sauce creamy not watery okay now I'm going to whisk in some flour this is the base of AO basically sprinkle that in and use a whisk to incorporate it into the butter and onions so I'm going to cook and whisk the flour for like at least a minute that's going to cook out that raw flour taste and next I'm going to add some War warm milk this one I just stuck in the microwave so a little bit at a time and whisk it in to incorporate and when it's smooth you're good to go add some more milk if I added the milk cold the melted butter in here would seize and that means clumpy sauce so I'm going to bring this to a simmer and let it cook until it's a little bit thicker and I'm going to whisk every once in a while just to make sure it stays creamy and we've got no lumps now time for the cheese I'm using three different types I've got font it's an awesome melter it's going to keep that sauce really rich and creamy and then some sharp white cheddar and guer these are olit Cher they're going to add great flavor to the sauce so then I'm just going to whisk those in until they're melted and smooth I'm going to add some ground dried mustard powder it's classic for macaroni and cheese and helps cut the richness in the cream sauce and just a pinch of cayenne a little bit of heat helps to wake up all those flavors whisk those in until smooth now time to add the pasta at this point my sauce is perfect so I'm going to pull it off the heat when I add the pasta cuz I don't want it to cook anymore so these are cavat tapy they're short and curly they're cute but any short pasta will work so noodles into the sauce I'm just going to fold them in until everything's coated with the cheese sauce so now into the baking dish I'm going to bake this in two stages into the oven so I'm going to bake it about halfway 10 minutes or so and then add the breadcrumbs that's why we toasted them first okay so this has been baking for about 10 minutes it's nice and hot now the breadcrumbs back in the oven okay this looks great golden brown and crunchy on top rich and creamy inside let's give it a try oh wow look at that creamy center pretty good perfect for this delicious mac and cheese and more comfort food Classics go to bona.com comfort see you next time\n"