Going into this project, I tried to ensure each day had two separate mac and cheeses. While this is primarily for fun, it’s also to expand our collective mac and cheese knowledge. However, I just couldn’t pass up the opportunity to have another serving of Double Gloucester and Monterey Jack mac and cheese. These two cheeses pair beautifully and are quickly becoming a new favorite in my mac and cheese recipe library.
Every year, Aldi releases a cheese Advent calendar. The calendar contains one individually wrapped piece of cheese for each day. There are twelve different cheeses available so we have two opportunities to explore different recipes we can make to feature each cheese. This is one of those recipes. Follow along here.
Double Gloucester is a cheese that I typically don’t see when cheese shopping. I just did a quick search and it doesn’t look like it’s available locally to me at all. This is disappointing. I would love to explore this cheese more. It’s a sharp, bright orange closer cheese that rounds out the bite fantastically. Because it is so sharp, it would be fantastic to pair with any other sharp opener. An aged cheddar would be fantastic. That may have to be my next experiment.
Monterey Jack is a creamy American-originated cheese with an opening flavor. It is easy to get your hands on and works fantastically with a variety of cheeses. Jack is a great option if you’re looking to branch out to other opener cheeses.
For the pasta, I used a rotini. Rotini is a great option when you want a pasta that is small and easy to eat, but with plenty of ridges to hold onto the double gloucester and monterey jack sauce making sure every bite of mac and cheese is full of flavor.
Double Gloucester and Monterey Jack Mac and Cheese
Ingredients
- 16 oz pasta cooked according to package directions
- 3 tbsp butter
- 3 tbsp flour
- 3 cups whole milk
- 4 oz Double Gloucester, grated
- 4 oz Monterey Jack, grated
- salt to taste
- pepper to taste
Instructions
- Pre heat your milk in the microwave for 45 seconds – just enough to take the chill out of it.
- Melt butter in a sauce pan over medium heat and let it heat until it becomes foamy.
- Mix in flour. Cook it for a minute while stirring constantly
- Slowly add warmed milk to the butter mixture 1/4 cup at a time. Whisk it continually until combined. Season generously with salt and fresh cracked pepper.
- Once all of the milk is added, cook for a few minutes while whisking it. Do not let it boil. You will feel the sauce start to thicken. It’s ready for cheese when you rub a small amount between your fingers and it feels silky.
- Remove from heat and stir in your cheese until it’s melted and mixed into the sauce.
- Once the cheese is incorporated, use a cooked noodle to taste your sauce. If it doesn’t taste cheesy enough try adding a little more salt to bring out the flavor.
- Combine the pasta and sauce and serve.
