Chestnuts in Arborland: Weekly Wonders: Oh-So-Good GF Mac and Cheese

I promised you a post on gluten free, homemade mac and cheese, so here it is!

This has become one of our favorite recipes, it takes some time but is not difficult to make.

You will need:

2 cups grated cheese (I like sharp cheddar)
1/4 cup butter
1-2 cups cold milk (I used Almond Milk)
~4 tsp brown rice flour
~2 tsp potato starch
1 tbsp mustard (I used Grey Poupon) optional
1-2 tsp each garlic powder and paprika
1 box GF pasta (my favorite is the corn-quinoa blend)
1 handful chopped, sundried tomatoes optional

And for the crust, which is also optional:

1 tbsp GF bread crumbs
1 tbsp parmesan cheese

Start by grating the cheese, then set it aside. I suppose you could use pre-grated, but I like the way fresh cheese tastes better.

I had some left over extra-sharp cheddar. Tossed it in too.

This is a good time to start boiling the water for your pasta. Cook the pasta while you are making the sauce, but don't overcook it. In fact, the pasta, especially if it's gluten free, should be slightly undercooked because it will continue cooking in the oven. For GF corn-quinoa elbow noodles, I boil water with a little salt and a little olive oil. Then I let the pasta cook for 7 minutes, drain, and cool.

Begin making the roux. In a sauce pan, melt the butter over medium heat. Don't let it burn.

Once the butter is completely melted, slowly add some of the rice flour and potato starch. Mix, mix, mix! You want to cook the flour and starch, but not burn them, so stir continuously. Keep slowly adding the flour and starch until you have a nice, brown-ish paste.

Next, add the cold milk to the pan a little bit at a time. Again, mix, mix, mix! At this point, it's helpful to use a wire whisk. The roux will be lumpy at first. It's ok, just keep stirring.

Continue adding the milk until you have a smooth but thick sauce. Think mac-and-cheese consistency!

Add a bit more milk to make the sauce just a tiny bit runny. Then add about half the grated cheese and mix.

At this point I like to add some mustard because it gives the cheese sauce a slightly complicated flavor. This is completely optional, though.

Add the garlic powder and paprika. These also give a nice flavor and paprika helps maintain the pretty orange color. Also add salt and pepper to taste.

Your roux is now complete! Keep it on low heat until you are ready to pour it over the pasta.

Once the pasta is ready, pre-heat the oven to 350°F. Put half of the pasta into a casserole dish and layer it with half of the roux, the rest of the grated cheese, and the chopped sundried tomatoes, if you are using them.