Adapted from a Cook’s Illustrated recipe
Ingredients
- 1 pound elbow macaroni
- 1 tablespoon table salt
- 5 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 6 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoons powdered mustard
- 1-3 cloves crushed garlic
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional)
- 5 cups milk (see note)
- 1/4-1/2 cup sherry (optional, to taste)
- 8 ounces Monterey Jack cheese , shredded (2 cups)
- 8 ounces sharp cheddar cheese , shredded (2 cups)
- 1 teaspoon table salt
Directions
- Bring 4 quarts water to boil over high heat. Add macaroni and 1 tablespoon salt; cook until pasta is tender. Drain pasta, reserving one cup of pasta water, and set aside in colander. (Cook’s Illustrated has you do this in a Dutch oven, and then make the sauce in the same pot. I like to get it all done faster, so I do the noodles in one pot while making the sauce in the heavy-bottomed Dutch oven.)
- In a heavy-bottomed Dutch oven, heat butter over medium-high heat until foaming. Add flour, mustard, and cayenne (if using) and whisk well to combine. Continue whisking until mixture becomes fragrant and deepens in color, about 1 minute.
- Turn heat off (this helps with avoiding lumps as you turn the roux into a sauce.)
- Whisk in the sherry, if using, combining entirely with flour. You will have a very thick paste.
- Gradually whisk in milk.
- After adding the first cup or so you should have a thick paste that doesn’t want to clump up as much when more liquid is added. At that point you can start adding the milk more quickly, but continue to whisk it constantly to avoid lumps.
- Turn heat back on to medium-high and bring mixture to boil, whisking bottom very regularly, and near-constantly as it gets well-heated (mixture must reach full boil to fully thicken).
- Reduce heat to medium and simmer, whisking occasionally, until thickened to consistency of heavy cream, about 5 minutes.
- Off heat, whisk in cheeses and 1 teaspoon salt until cheeses are fully melted. Add pasta and cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until mixture is steaming and heated through, about 6 minutes.
- Add some of the reserved pasta water to thin out the consistency and make it a little creamier.