That’s probably why it’s common to see rigatoni, elbows, shells, and cavatappi in cheese sauces. If the pasta is too thin, it just falls apart and gets mushy,” Arevalo explains. “The cheese sauce works really well with a pasta that has ridges and thicker walls. It doesn’t melt so well but it does give it this extra dimension of flavor,” Arevalo says.Once the cheese sauce is silky and ready, you’re also going to need the right pasta shape to help carry all of that flavor. “I also really like adding a salty cheese-so either pecorino or a parmesan cheese. You’re going to taste maybe flour and the butter, you’re not going to get that cheesiness.”Īrevalo suggests an aged cheddar and likes to mix hers with Monterey Jack, which has great meltability. If you use mild cheddar, it’s going to just taste like cream sauce. “You need a cheese that melts really well and you need a cheese that has a really strong flavor. In addition to not scorching your roux, something that helps prevent breaking your sauce is knowing which types of cheese to put into it. If you’re going to cook your mac and cheese over a high heat then it’s going to separate and you’re going to have a pool of grease on top and it will be terrible.” Cheese breaks down and it separates so quickly. “The trick is to not cook it over high heat. It’s just mastering a few things and depends on how you want to make it as well.”įor the bechamel, Arevalo says it’s all about knowing how not to burn the flour or butter and whisking it enough in its early stages to ensure the sauce itself isn’t lumpy. “Once you get the hang of it, it’s so simple. The key to cheese sauce, whether you’re reheating it at home like Arevalo mentioned or making it from scratch, is a bit of patience and some scientific know-how.

We use butter, heavy cream, corn starch instead of flour, and then we mix all the cheeses in and then refrigerate it for people to reheat at home.” Our cheese sauce here doesn’t have the same bechamel beginning. “At Pasta Louise, we have cheese sauce in the refrigerator so people can make it at home. “I worked a really long time on the recipe for cheese sauce.” Arevalo does it two ways: at Homeroom, the sauce began as a bechamel and would then be heated in a pan and mixed with selected cheeses before being tossed with fresh pasta and baked. “I’ve made a lot of mac and cheese,” Arevalo begins.

Mac and cheese recipe without roux