SAY MAC 'N' CHEESE!
A completely hands-off recipe that will blow your mind!
The holidays are in full swing, White Lotus Season 2 is over, it’s snowing in parts of the country. This all adds up to one thing: Now is the time for comfort food.
Lucky for you, Elizabeth has a breakthrough in mac ‘n’ cheese technology with her genius No-Boil Overnight Mac & Cheese that should definitely grace your holiday table. Anthony is hopping on the cozy nostalgia train, with a Grown Up Buttered Noodles recipe that’s so easy, you’ll wonder why you haven’t been making it for years.
OVERNIGHT MAC & CHEESE
EK: OK. Here is what happened. I was going to my sister’s house for Thanksgiving and her kids wanted Mac & Cheese for Thanksgiving. They didn’t want the whole gruyere-plus-five-cheeses dish that I usually make. They wanted one step up from Kraft Macaroni and Cheese.
AU: Kids are the great equalizer—all mac & cheeses are worthy! I am about to spend a week with my two nephews, so I definitely see this in our future…
EK: I had recently read about Ina Garten’s Overnight Mac & Cheese, and reading the title, I envisioned a Mac & Cheese that was basically like an egg strata, where you soak the pasta overnight with milk and cheese, and bake it the next day after the pasta has absorbed the milk.
Her recipe was a little more complex than that. You par-boil the pasta, refrigerate for 24 hours, bring to room temperature, cover with cheese and breadcrumbs, and bake for 25 minutes at 400ºF.
I decided to try her recipe but mix everything together with the uncooked pasta, refrigerate it overnight and bake. Because the kids only wanted a cheddar Mac & Cheese, I left out the Gruyere (If I was making it for myself, I would have kept it in).
I covered the soaked mixture with heavy-duty foil and baked it, covered, to hold in the steam and cook the pasta while the rest of the casserole got hot and bubbly. Following Ina’s lead, I added breadcrumbs to the top and let them bake until they were brown and crisp. The breadcrumbs were taking so long that I had to use the broiler on them for a minute or two, but it came out GBD! (Golden. Brown. Delicious!)
And it was good… BUT being who we are, we had to critique it, after we ate it—IYKYK :)
AU: Oh I can just picture you and your sister inspecting each bite. Thank you for your scientific contribution!!
EK: The No-Boil Overnight Mac & Cheese was a big hit with the kiddos, but my sister and I thought that the 3 cups of heavy cream (for 8 ounces of pasta) was a little rich. Baking it at 400ºF made the fat separate out and pool on top, which bothered us, but the idea itself was so great, and the results so promising, that I became obsessed and started telling everyone I know about it.
I experimented with different dairy and different cheeses: I tried 2% milk and whole milk and a slightly lower oven temperature. It worked with 2% but was a little light. After making it multiple times, I landed on using whole milk and baking it at 375ºF.
I ditched the breadcrumbs for more cheese that bakes into that GBD topping. If you want the dish to be a little richer, you can use a cup of cream or half-and-half instead of milk, just be sure to keep the total liquid measurement at 3 1/2 cups. The beauty of this recipe is that it takes almost no active cooking time and you can customize it to suit your taste.
I’ve made it with both mini penne and shells, and I prefer the shells. I’ve added all kinds of seasonings including truffle salt with pieces of real truffle—and used 3 kinds of cheddar as well as only extra-sharp cheddar. I haven’t done it yet, but I am going to try the Gruyere-Cheddar mix next and maybe add a little parmesan cheese to my topping for a little whispy crunch.
But let’s talk about the cheese: I am one of those people who feels strongly that you can’t use pre-grated cheese in most recipes. This is because the anti-caking agents that keep the cheese grated and separate in the package prevent it from melting/coming together the same way cheese that you hand-grate does.
However, because the cheese soaks in milk overnight, it works just fine to use bagged grated cheese. I buy the 3 cup, 12-ounce bags and have used both the super-fine grated and the coarse grated. The advantage of the super-fine cheese is that it is small enough to rest in the openings of the shell pasta and melt and pool, but both are very good.
EK: Now that you know the backstory, let’s make the Mac & Cheese. All you need is pasta, milk, cheese and seasonings—no need to make a roux. I think the nutmeg is essential but after that, feel free to switch it up. I added a little Dijon mustard this time at Anthony’s suggestion, and it was a very nice addition. It doesn’t taste mustardy but it gives the dish a nice dimension. I also add a lot less salt (1/2 teaspoon) than The Barefoot Contessa who adds 2 teaspoons, so feel free to add more if you think you need it, but remember that cheese already has quite a bit of salt and Dijon mustard is also salty.
I mix everything up in a bowl and it literally takes me about 30 seconds. Don’t worry that it looks like dry slop, it will start to relax and come together in the refrigerator overnight.
My baking time is also a lot longer than Ina’s. Maybe it’s because I don’t let it sit at room temperature for an hour, but our total times are about the same. She lets it sit for an hour, and then bakes it for 25 minutes. I bake it, covered with foil, for 1 hour to 1 hour and 15 minutes, and then sprinkle the top with more cheese, and bake for an additional ten minutes or until the top is as brown as you like it. So we both net out at about 1 1/2 hours—#samesame.
The next time I make my No-Boil Overnight Mac & Cheese, I am going to add chunks of Butternut Squash—I feel like this technique might be applicable to all your favorite baked pasta dishes. Stay Tuned!
GROWN UP BUTTERED NOODLES
AU: There are many bad things about being a grown up: a body that’s rapidly-decaying from the inside-out, taxes, functioning like a normal human in public… But there are some perks to being an adult, too: R-Rated movies, buying as-seen-on-tv items on a whim, eating dessert for breakfast, and buying frivolous fashion accessories simply because they spark joy.
Since you’re an adult, no one is going to tell you that you can’t
eat buttered noodles for dinner.
AU: I know what you’re thinking: Does anyone need a recipe for buttered noodles? Fair. But this offering is less of a “recipe” and more of a REMINDER that this meal, which you probably last ate as a child or a hungover/broke college student, is still very, very good.
And if you, like me, are a somewhat-fully-formed adult human, you may also feel like simple noodles, butter, and parmesan is a bit too basic if you’re not recovering from a stomach bug. Well, dear reader, by introducing just two components—acidity and texture—we can take this dish from a “bowl of basic” to “simply delicious” without much effort.
EK: I feel like a bowl of buttered noodles is perfection. Remember, less is more. Just because it is simple with very few ingredients doesn’t make it basic in my book. In fact, that is the definition of my Overnight Mac & Cheese, and it’s nowhere near basic—or it’s so basic that it’s genius! Just depends on your POV!
AU: Good point! This meal is, in fact, so basic that it only has 5 ingredients! Better yet, you only need one pan (and a colander) to make it. The result is a bright, buttery, crunchy, comforting pasta that takes mere minutes to come together.
AU: Butter, Pistachios, Lemon, Parmesan, and Pasta… Like any “simple” dish, the quality of ingredients is really paramount, so try to use the best butter and the real deal Parmigiano Reggiano, if you can. Also, you’re going to use more of both items than you think. This is why restaurant dishes always taste so much butter err better than when you cook at home. Butter and cheese with abandon!! Pasta shape is up to your personal, spiritual, pasta preferences. Some people swear by a long noodle, others prefer a toothsome short pasta, or you might be someone who likes an orzo, pastina, or ditalini. ALL ARE CORRECT ANSWERS.
EK: OMG! Really? Buttered noodles with pistachios and lemon… This is not basic and it’s technically not “just” buttered noodles! And btw, what are those gorgeous noodles with the ruffled edges?!
AU: They’re plain ol’ egg noodles! I got the inspiration for this flavor combo after seeing the famous Rosa pizza at Pizzeria Bianco, which is a pie with no sauce—just parm, red onion, rosemary, and chopped pistachios. I’m omitting the onion and rosemary, because this is not a dish for slicing and chopping; this is about delicious convenience.® Then I remembered how much I love brown butter and lemon when paired together, so why not toss the cooked pasta in THAT?! If you want it to be more butter forward, I would omit the lemon juice, and just use the zest. Here’s how she comes together…
In a stainless or enameled dutch oven/stockpot, boil your pasta in salted water until it’s al dente (like 1-2ish minutes short of the package directions). Don’t use a dark/nonstick pan, because you won’t be able to tell how dark your brown butter is getting. Reserve a cup of the starchy pasta cooking water (this will help the sauce come together later), then drain the pasta into a colander in the sink. Place the (now-empty) pasta pot over medium heat, melt the butter, stirring frequently. The butter may foam and then turn golden. Keep stirring until the butter has turned brown (like a hazelnut) and smells nutty.
Turn off the heat, and add the chopped pistachios, lemon zest, lemon juice, and a bit of the pasta water (this will stop the butter from continuing to brown, but it will sputter and sizzle for a sec). Gradually stir in the parmesan, until the cheese starts to emulsify into the sauce. Return the pasta to the pot and toss, adding pasta water—a little bit at a time—until it looks like there’s a glossy sauce coating each piece (you probably won’t need more than 1/2 cup of pasta water, total). Serve in a bowl topped extra parm and pistachios. If you’re feeling frisky, some minced chives would be good, too.
Cozy up on the couch in your comfiest sweats and binge crap television for full effect (or rewatch White Lotus Season 2 from start-to-finish)!
You are our best critic and cheerleader!!!
I’ll never get tired of testing THESE recipes!