Pastaholic goes classic.

I realized the other day that there is such a thing as the holy grail of pasta. Mac&Cheese. A holy grail I have had yet to touch. Maybe it was the fact that having lived in an American dorm I had seen too many pre-packed, just add water and stir, eat straight out of the box versions of Mac&Cheese. Scary stuff I think. Or it might just be that I don’t like the macaroni shape very much (and if you think one pasta shape is much like the other, you really just need to go back to Pasta 101, because it is not!). I am also a bit scared of white sauces. They always seem to come together by magic and I am afraid the meal will be ruined if I don’t flick my wand the right way.

Either way with all the choices and options for pasta there are, it just never occurred to me that a recipe which is so famous (or infamous in case of boxed Mac&Cheese), might just be that popular for a good reason.

Yesterday I had the first one on one catch up session with Julia since she moved here and we decided to stay in and on the balcony. I have an old issue of Food & Home in my bathroom right now – Why? Where do you store your old food magazines? – and found a recipe for classic Mac&Cheese with a gorgonzola twist. This and some twitter post about the general beauty of Mac&Cheese finally gave me the push to brave the unknown.

The result:

1. White sauces are the easiest bit of magic ever. No flicking needed.

2. Spreading the macaroni really thin in an oversized casserole dish makes for more yummy crunchy bits.

3. A classic is a classic for a reason.

4. Having a new favourite that requires cream and impolite amounts of cheese kind of sucks…

Blurry Mac & Cheese due to my hand shaking in excitement.