At the holidays, this is a great meatless main dish as well as a very tasty side dish. It seems we always double Emeril Lagasse's original recipe, so I've doubled the amounts in the list below. She also substitutes half the cheddar cheese with gouda, smoked gouda, etc.
DOUBLE BATCH
3/4 c (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted
butter, divided
1 lb elbow macaroni
3/4 c flour
6 c whole milk
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground pepper
Large pinch cayenne
5 c (≈12 oz) grated cheese, divided:
all cheddar or half cheddar and half
gouda, smoked gouda, etc.
1 c fine bread crumbs (see Note)
2 tsp Emeril's Essence (see Note)
Preheat the oven to 350°. Butter a 3-quart baking dish with 1-2 tablespoons of the butter and set aside.
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the macaroni and cook until al dente, about 10 minutes. Drain in a colander and rinse under cold running water. Drain well.
Melt the remaining 10 tablespoons butter in a heavy 6-quart saucepan over medium heat. Add the flour, and stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, cook over medium heat for 3 to 4 minutes, being careful not to let the flour brown. Using a whisk, add the milk in a steady stream and cook, whisking constantly, until thick and smooth, 4 minutes. Remove from the heat. Add the salt, pepper, cayenne, and 4-4 1/2 cups of the cheese, and stir well. Add the macaroni and stir well. Pour into the prepared dish.
In a mixing bowl, combine the remaining cup of cheese with the bread crumbs and Essence or other herb mixture. Sprinkle evenly over the macaroni and bake until golden brown and bubbly, about 25 minutes.
Remove from the oven and let rest for 5 minutes before serving.
Note: This past Thanksgiving, instead of saving out some grated cheese and making a crumb mixture with Essence, Liz used some of the leftover crumb mixture from our Baked Artichokes. Wow was it good! To do this on the fly, I'd use all the grated cheddar/gouda in the sauce and mix a cup of crumbs made from Trader Joe's Tuscan Pane with 1/3 cup Trader Joe's grated Parmesan/Romano mix and 2 tsp mixed dried herbs (thyme, oregano, savory, Italian blend, etc.).