The 1-Ingredient Improve for the Creamiest Mac and Cheese

I at all times hold a field of pasta in my pantry and a number of other sorts of cheeses in my fridge. That implies that once I do not know what to make for dinner, I often find yourself making mac and cheese. Once I’m brief on time, it’s former culinary director Kenji’s three-ingredient stovetop mac and cheese, which is straightforward, satisfying, and takes simply 10 minutes to whip up. However when I’ve the luxurious of time and wish to go all out—whether or not for my circle of relatives or for a vacation social gathering—I’ll put together a wealthy, creamy baked macaroni and cheese, full with a crispy, buttery breadcrumb topping. Lately, my Birmingham, Alabama-based take a look at kitchen colleague Julia Levy impressed me to attempt one thing completely different: an expensive autumnal tackle baked mac with butternut squash combined proper in with the pasta.

Along with baked after which puréed butternut squash, Julia’s recipe requires not one however three completely different sorts of cheese: fontina, extra-sharp cheddar, and Gruyère. Every cheese performs a task—the fontina provides silkiness, the cheddar a beautiful tanginess, and the Gruyère its signature nuttiness—and so they work collectively to enrich the naturally candy and earthy flavors of the butternut squash. Earlier than being baked, the casserole is topped with buttery sage breadcrumbs for a crispy topping that tastes and smells like the vacations.  The outcome? A scrumptious, comforting casserole that my family and friends are already requesting on repeat. And much more nice information: The casserole could be prepped and refrigerated or frozen days (or months) upfront, making it excellent for getting forward on vacation cooking. 

6 Keys to Making the Finest Butternut Squash Mac and Cheese

1. Use ripe butternut squash. For the sweetest taste, attain for a ripe gourd. Sadly, you may’t inform a squash’s ripeness by contact, but it surely ought to really feel heavy for its dimension and sound hole when tapped together with your knuckles—and once you minimize into the squash, the flesh needs to be a deep orange coloration.
2. For simpler slicing, microwave your squash first. Butternut squash could be giant and unwieldy. To make it simpler to halve, use a fork or sharp paring knife to poke holes throughout—then place the gourd on a big plate and microwave on excessive till simply tender sufficient to chop by way of simply, three to 5 minutes. As soon as it’s cool sufficient to deal with, you may slide your knife proper in to halve the squash.
3. For the creamiest mac and cheese, use a béchamel sauce as your base. As our editorial director Daniel wrote in his béchamel recipe, this luscious French sauce is mainly “simply milk that’s been thickened with a roux comprised of roughly equal elements of butter and flour,” with a contact of salt, black pepper, and grated nutmeg stirred in. As fancy because the sauce sounds, it’s quite simple to organize: Make the roux by whisking flour into melted butter, then slowly and step by step add your milk. Simmer till thickened, season to style, and that’s all there may be to it.
4. Add a contact of mustard. To chop by way of the richness of the cheese and supply a balanced taste, we incorporate a contact of Dijon mustard, which supplies the pasta a pleasant sharpness.
5. Go all out on the cheese. We initially began with fontina and extra-sharp cheddar, however felt that the mac and cheese wanted further oomph. Although we have been fearful that Gruyère would make the casserole barely too funky (if that is actually doable), it gave the pasta a nice nuttiness that complemented the squash’s candy and earthy taste, taking it from “nice” to “holy cow, that is superior,” based on one taster. Have a favourite cheese you wish to use? Be happy to make use of it rather than any of the cheeses—simply make certain it’s a semidry cheese like Swiss, Comté, or emmentaler. Keep away from moisture-heavy cheeses, resembling contemporary mozzarella or goat cheese, which can lead to a waterlogged casserole.
6. Prime it with a buttery panko combination. Mac and cheese is scrumptious by itself, but it surely’s even higher once you garnish it with a topping of herby panko breadcrumbs tossed in butter. Because the casserole bakes, the breadcrumbs grow to be golden brown and crisp, giving every chew a satisfying crunch.