There’s magic in combining different flavors of cheeses together to create the perfect mac and cheese recipe. I’ve been making mac and cheese for a long time, and I’m still excited every time I create a dish where everything just works. Today I proved this when I combined Asiago and Gouda flavors together for a delicious mac and cheese.
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Pasta
When selecting pasta for mac and cheese, I have several specific requirements. The pasta cannot be too long that eating it is a chore. Spaghetti is a fun pasta – but it’s cumbersome to eat, and it severely detracts from the mac and cheese experience. However, you want a noodle shape that offers some structure to the dish. Tiny noodles can get buried in the sauce and become soupy.
I used cavatappi in this dish. This noodle offers a hollow, corkscrew shape with ridges along the outside perfect for holding onto sauce this guarantees every bite has plenty of texture and flavor.
Opener Cheese
When you bite into a cheese, pay attention to where the flavor hits. Sometimes it’s right when you bite into it and this is what I call an opener cheese. Every flavorful mac and cheese should have opener flavors.
Depending on how long it’s aged, gouda tends to walk the line between an opener and closer cheese. However, a younger less aged gouda makes a beautiful opener cheese that pairs really well with a variety of other flavors.
Closer Cheese
When the flavor hits at the end of the bite, it’s a closer cheese. Well rounded mac and cheeses include both an opener and closer cheese.
Asiago is a bold closer cheese. It offers a strong flavor that you need to be conscious of which flavors you try to pair with asiago.
Toppings
The asiago gouda mac and cheese sauce is so flavorful that you want to choose toppings that can hold up against it. Think crispy onions, crispy jalapenos, or even parmesan crisps. Choose a topping that can hold its own against a super flavorful sauce.
Asiago Gouda Mac and Cheese
Ingredients
- 16 oz Cavatappi pasta
- 3 tbsp Butter
- 3 tbsp Flour
- 3 cups Whole Milk
- 1 cup grated Gouda
- 1 cup grated Asiago
- Salt to taste
Toppings
- Grilled Chicken
- Asiago Crisps
- Green Onions
Instructions
- Cook the pasta according to package directions in well salted water.
Prepare the sauce
- 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.
- 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. Top with grilled chicken, asiago crisps, and green onions and serve.
