Audrey Hepburn’s Mac & Cheese
While I have made homemade Mac & Cheese before, I decided to make Audrey Hepburn’s Mac and Cheese Recipe from Audrey at Home: Memories of My Mother’s Kitchen
I added a few ingredients since I received the request for it to also have beef.
*While I have changed a few ingredient measurements and added/removed some items, all credit goes to Luca Dotti and Audrey at Home, pg. 196, (any Audrey fan must go out and buy this book, it’s amazing).*
Ingredients
1 l Milk
125 g unsalted butter
1 Cup Flour
4 Cups Cheese,
Any cheese is fine. I used a four cheese cheddar blend but you can be experimental with it. Next time, I may use Jalapeno Cheddar for some added spice
680 g Pasta, I used macaroni
Optional:
Beef (amount depends on your preference)
3 Cloves Garlic, diced
1/2 an Onion, chopped
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 F (180 C) and grease a baking dish.
In a pan over medium heat, add the garlic, onion and beef. Cook until the beef is done and is safe to eat (I always end up eating a bowl just of the beef and onion- it always tastes too good to pass up). Once done, take it off of the heat and leave it to the side.
Heat the milk over low heat. In a separate saucepan, melt the butter, also over low heat. Gradually add the flour- be sure to stir constantly. This is known as a roux. I am unsure as to why it didn’t cooperate with me while making it this time, perhaps the heat was accidentally too high- but it still turned out alright for the recipe in the end.
Gradually pour in the hot milk, whisking until the mixture starts to boil- about 10 minutes and remove from the heat. Add 3/4 of the cheese and stir well to be sure it is completely mixed together.
Cook the pasta but be sure to take off about 4 minutes from the cooking instructions; it needs to be very al dente. Once the pasta is done, strain it, and combine it with the cheese sauce mixture and beef. Transfer it all to the baking dish you prepared earlier and sprinkle it with the rest of the cheese (1 cup).
Bake it in the oven for about 30 minutes or until the cheese is nice and golden.
Enjoy!
Have you tried any recipes from the book yet? Let me know your experience by commenting below!