Today, Aldi gave us a beautiful Mediterranean Gouda that pairs beautifully with Parmesan in mac and cheese. Mediterranean gouda contains black olives, tomato, and garlic flavors. It tastes like eating pizza.
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.
How to Use cheese in mac and cheese
When you take a bite of cheese, pay attention to where the flavor sits. Often the flavor sits at the beginning of the bite, but it fades away. These are what I call opener cheeses. Closer cheeses have flavor that takes a few seconds to develop.
If your mac and cheese only uses an opener cheese, the end of the bite will be flat and boring. However, only using a closer cheese leads to pasta that takes too long to become cheesy. The perfect mac and cheese recipe uses both opener and closer cheese for a well-rounded experience.
Mediterranean Gouda
Gouda is a cheese that tends to walk the opener closer line. Younger aged goudas like you see in the Aldi advent calendar are almost always an opener cheese. However, when goudas are aged, they tend to skew toward the closer end of things. It’s important to always taste goudas before committing to a pairing.
This Mediterranean Gouda includes black olive, tomato, and pizza. It tastes like eating pizza.
Parmesan
Parmesan is one of my favorite closer cheeses to use in a mac and cheese. It’s easy to get and it pairs fantastically with a variety of cheeses without overpowering.
Radiatore Pasta in Mediterranean Gouda and Parmesan mac and cheese
The pasta you use in your mac and cheese is important. If your shape is too large, your dish will be cumbersome and difficult to eat. On the other hand, if you go too small your pasta will become a soupy mess.
Radiatore is a great pasta to use for a mac and cheese vehicle. It has plenty of ridges to soak up cheese sauce and is small and easy enough to easily grab with a fork.
Add a fork
This Mediterranean Gouda and Parmesan mac and cheese is packed with flavor and perfectly customizable to an entree or side depending on how you plate it. It comes together quickly and is a great way to impress your dinner guests.
Mediterranean Gouda and Parmesan Mac and Cheese Recipe
Ingredients
- 16 oz pasta cooked according to package directions
- 3 tbsp butter
- 3 tbsp flour
- 3 cups whole milk
- 4 oz Mediterranean Gouda, grated
- 4 oz Parmesan, 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.
