The Perfect Mac-n-Cheese for Your Summer Barbecue

Summer is just around the corner, and so are the sizzlin’ summer barbecues with grilled steaks, ribs, burgers or hotdogs. Of course, no barbecue is complete with some killer sides. I stumbled upon a great recipe for baked mac-n-cheese to pair with your entrees. Not to toot my own horn, but this recipe has been a hit at my family gatherings and functions with my friends. And lucky for everyone, it’s quick and easy to make.

First things first, the most essential part of this recipe is the most simple – the cheese. Grating your own cheese is very important; The fresher the cheese, the better the taste. Grating your own cheese avoids the additive that prevents pre-grated cheese from melting properly when making your sauce. While you can certainly add the cheeses of your choice, I stick with colby jack, cheddar and mozzarella. I grate roughly two cups of colby jack cheese, one cup of sharp cheddar cheese and about four ounces of mozzarella. It might seem like a lot, but trust me, we’ll need it.

Next, boil pasta water for about 12 minutes before adding your pasta noodles, or until you see the water reach a boil on low to mid heat. Once you reach a boil, add in your noodles. This side dish can feed up to twelve people, if no one goes for seconds. I cook 16 ounces of noodles when I’m cooking this side for that many people. Corkscrew noodles are the next essential ingredient for this mac-n-cheese. This type of noodle absorbs the cheesy goodness the best. Let the noodles boil for around 25 minutes to reach a slightly squishy texture. If you don’t like your noodles as cooked as I do, cooking your noodles anywhere from 16 to 20 minutes will reach that crisp al dente, slightly hardened texture.

While your noodles are going, it’s time to start my favorite part. The sauce!

You are going to get started with adding in two tablespoons of butter to prevent the sauce from sticking to the pan. Plus, the more butter, the better the flavor. Once the butter is melted down, add in 473 milliliters of heavy whipping cream, or one pint, and lightly stir to mix. Then, mix in a ¼ cup of 2% milk to thin up the heavy cream.

Now for the fun part. I should mention that I never measure spices. I rely on test tasting until the flavor is to my satisfaction. You’ll need salt, pepper, paprika, Italian seasoning, onion powder and garlic powder. I add in lemon pepper and just a little seasoning since my boyfriend, who I’m usually cooking for, likes a little extra flavor, but the lemon pepper is completely optional. I’ve tested it, and can confirm that the mac-n-cheese will still be delicious without the lemon pepper. Remember, there’s no exact measurements of the spices in this recipe. Just keep seasoning until you finally find yourself saying, “Mmmm.”

Mix in the spices with the cream. Then, let that sit on low heat while you begin to preheat your oven to 385 degrees.

While your oven is preheating, start slowly adding in half of your grated cheeses to the sauce mixture. Keep stirring as you add in your cheeses so the sauce will thicken. This can take a minute, but if you’re like me, you can think of it as an arm workout and a way to work off the calories you’re about to consume.

You’re going to want to keep stirring until your sauce is creamy and thick enough to slowly drip off the spoon during your, as I like to call it, “cheese pull.” That’s how you’ll know it’s time to add in your noodles.

At this point, the oven should be done pre-baking. Don’t add the sauce to your noodles just yet. You’re going to want to layer in the rest of the grated cheese with the sauce. So, do one layer of sauce on the noodles, mix, then layer your cheese. Repeat until you have two layers of each.

Now, throw that beautiful masterpiece into the oven and let it bake for 30 minutes. Once it’s done, it should come out of the oven with a beautiful, crispy, golden layer of slightly burnt cheese on top.

You can feel free to top it off with some chives or bacon on top, but those are also completely optional.

And there you have it. Now you’re ready to be a hit at the next summer cookout. This side dish is so delicious and filling that it can be served as a meal, or be paired with grilled or baked chicken or salmon, steak or ribs. However you choose to serve it, it’s sure to delight your taste buds.

Taylor Moore can be reached at bytaylor.moore@gmail.com