Ingredients
- 1 box Flour+Water Elbow Macaroni Pasta
- 2 cups whole milk
- 1 tsp. kosher salt
- 2 Tbsp. unsalted butter
- 3 Tbsp. all purpose flour
- ⅛ tsp. whole nutmeg, freshly grated
- 1 lb. cheese mix, freshly grated (sharp cheddar, mozzarella, jack, provolone, etc.)
- 4 oz. mascarpone (*or substitute cream cheese)
- 3 oz. parmigiano reggiano, finely grated
- TT kosher salt
- black pepper *optional
- hot sauce *optional
Method
Step 1
Cook the pasta according to package instructions. For this dish, we are going to cook the pasta fully in the boiling water, as it does not have additional cooking in its pan sauce. Once the pasta is cooked, reserve a quarter cup of the pasta water for later use and strain through a colander.
Step 2
For the cheese sauce, begin by bringing whole milk to a simmer in a 1 quart saucepan. Season milk with 1 teaspoon kosher salt & freshly grated nutmeg. Remove from heat and reserve. In a separate saucepan, heat butter over medium heat. Once butter is melted, stir in all purpose flour and continue to cook and stir over medium heat for one minute. Slowly whisk milk into butter and flour mixture in a slow steady stream. Once all the milk has been added, bring to a boil over high heat, whisking constantly. Remove from heat and whisk in cheese mix, mascarpone and parmigiano reggiano. Add drained pasta to the cheese sauce. Stir and adjust consistency with reserved pasta water if needed. Season to taste with salt and if desired, black pepper and hot sauce.
