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Taleggio mac and cheese topped with buttery crackers with a spoon.
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4.72 from 7 votes

Taleggio Mac and Cheese Topped with Buttery Crackers

Servings: 6
Author: Teri & Jenny

Ingredients

  • 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, softened
  • 1 pound Cellentani pasta

silky taleggio cheese sauce

  • 5 ounces evaporated milk
  • 1 egg
  • 1 teaspoon dry mustard
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • ½ teaspoon cracked black pepper
  • 8 ounces taleggio cheese, cut into small cubes
  • 1 teaspoon tapioca starch can use cornstarch
  • 1 ½ teaspoon lemon juice

buttery cracker topping

  • 10 crackers of choice, crushed such as saltines, butter crackers, etc
  • 2 tablespoons salted butter, melted
  • thinly sliced chives, for garnish

Instructions

  • Lightly butter a 2 quart baking dish with 1 tablespoon of softened butter. Set aside.
  • Fill a large pot with water and bring to a boil. Add a handful of salt and pasta and boil, stirring occasionally, until pasta is fully cooked. Drain pasta, reserving 3 tablespoons pasta water. Set aside.
  • In a large saucepan combine evaporated milk, pasta water, egg, dry mustard, salt, and pepper and whisk together. In a large mixing bowl combine cheese, starch and lemon juice and toss together.
  • Place saucepan over medium-low heat and whisk together for about 2 minutes. Whisk in small amounts of the cheese mixture at a time, making sure not to add more cheese until the previous addition had been fully incorporated to the sauce.
  • Continue to whisk and add cheese over the low heat until all the cheese has been added and a smooth and creamy sauce forms (make sure not to rush this process or your cheese sauce will not be smooth).
  • Once the sauce has been made, stir in the pasta. Adjust seasonings.
  • Pour mixture into a lightly buttered baking dish.
  • In a small bowl combine crushed crackers and butter. Sprinkle mixture over mac and cheese and broil on high for 1 to 2 minutes or until crackers have toasted and mac and cheese is bubbling.
  • Top mac and cheese with chives and serve.

Notes

  • *Make sure your evaporated milk-egg mixture is still pretty thin (just barely starting to thicken) or your end product will be too thick!
  • *If the sauce seems too thin/loose that’s okay. It’ll thicken as it sits with the pasta.
  • *The lemon juice will help prevent the sauce from getting stringy.