Quick, Essential Stovetop Mac-and-Cheese

• servings: 1 serving
• total time: 15 minutes

Ingredients

Kosher salt

4 ounces (115 grams) dried pasta, such as macaroni or another small twisty shape

2 teaspoons (10 grams) salted or unsalted butter

2 teaspoons (6 grams) all-purpose flour

1/2 cup (125 ml) low-fat or whole milk

Many grinds of black pepper

1/2 cup (1 ounce or 30 grams) finely grated parmesan or pecorino cheese

Directions

Bring a small-to-medium pot of very well-salted water to a boil and add your dried pasta. Cook it until firm tender, then drain. Return pot to stove and melt butter in the bottom. Using a spoon or whisk, add flour and mix until it disappears. Add milk, a tiny splash at a time, stirring constantly so no lumps form. Season with 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt and many grinds of black pepper. Bring sauce to a simmer. Cook, stirring, for 1 to 2 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in grated cheese until combined. Add drained pasta, stir to evenly coat. Scoop into a bowl (okay, I won’t tell anyone if you don’t) and finish it with more black pepper, if you wish. Repeat as needed.

Notes

I use parmesan or pecorino here, because I find them to have the maximum salty, cheesy impact in small quantities, plus, I always keep them around. However, if I’m feeling fancy, I’ll swap half of it with a very sharp aged cheddar. Please note that if you use a Microplane rasp to grate your cheese, it’s going to be a lot lighter at a 1/2 cup quantity, and therefore less cheesy in the end, which would be tragic.

A few other tips: I find using smaller quantities of water than usually recommended for pasta is fine for mac-and-cheese, where we want a starchier effect. I like to season mine with a good amount of black pepper for a cacio e pepe vibe. For pasta, you’ve probably noted that no “mac” or macaroni was used in the making of this dish, but you can use it here. I am forever weak in the face of an unusual pasta shape, however, and used something called “sagne a pezzi” which looks like broken pieces of ruffly lasagna edges. I also love this with medium shells. Do not go crazy measuring two teaspoons of butter from a stick, just use a little shy of the tablespoon mark. Finally, and I forgot to mention this initially, but sauces like this can be great with a touch of finely grated garlic — just half a small clove, Microplaned, would be ideal for this volume.