MAC AND CHEESE
YIELD:	five servings (800 g/S cups)
TIME ESTIMATE:	30 minutes overall
STORAGE NOTES:	serve pasta immediately; cheese sauce keeps for 1 week when refrigerated
	or up to 2 months when frozen
LEVEL OF DIFFICULTY:	moderate
SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS:	sodium citrate
This recipe has been one of the most popular in Modernist Cuisine				Elbow macaroni is the classic pasta for Mac and Cheese, but any
since that book appeared. Use it as a template to create your				kind of pasta works. Those varieties having a rough surface hold
version of a refined and cheese. There are so many potentially				the sauce better. Although cheese lovers might be tempted to boost
great cheese mixes and accompaniments that it was hard to pick just				the sauce-to-pasta ratio, keep in mind that the sauce is very rich.
the six that we have space for here.				A little goes a long way.
INGREDIENT	WEIGHT	VOLUME	SCALING	PROCEDURE
Water or milk	265 g	265 ml/1⅛ cups	93%	1. Combine in a pot, whisk to dissolve, and bring to a simmer over medium
Sodium citrate	11 g		4%	heat.
White cheddar cheese,	285 g	4 cups	100%	2. Add into the simmering liquid gradually, blending each addition with an
finely grated				immersion blender until melted and completely smooth.
Water	as needed for cooking the pasta			3. Bring a large pot of water to a boil
Dry macaroni	240g	2 cups	84%	4. Boil until al dente according to the package directions, 5—6 minutes.
				5. Drain. Do not rinse the pasta.
				6. Stir in the warm cheese sauce, and fold in any accompaniments you wish
				to add (see the variations below)
Salt	to taste			7. Season the mac and cheese, and serve it immediately.