World's Best Macaroni and Cheese Recipe

Full to the brim with fat and cholesterol, this recipe is as good tasting as it is bad for you. Feel free to do any substitutions to the straight milk products to bring the fat content down -- the taste will suffer very little. Do not, however, substitute low-fat cheeses -- those things don't melt worth a damn.

Use any pasta shapes of your choosing -- the classic American choice is elbow macaroni which is both boring and in my eyes, wrong. You want something that'll hold some of the cheese when you dig your fork in and surprise your guests when they eat it, so go with some good short cut shape like fusilli (corkscrews), farfalle (bow ties), conchiglie/pipe (sea shells) or orecchiette (tiny cups).

This is a recipe that is so spectacular that not only will it, very likely, make people become blasphemous when they eat it ("GODDAMN THIS IS GOOD!"), but you'll find that your life will forever be divided into the "before" (aka "the bad time") and "after" (aka "enlightenment" or "yum-bo") of your having it.

Be prepared for some psychological fall-out associated with eating this along the lines of "I can't believe I was eating something else all these years." This mental state is nothing leftovers won't cure.


1T Olive oil
1c Heavy cream
1c Half-and-half
2 Egg yolks
1/2t Nutmeg
2c (8 oz) Extra-sharp cheddar (grated)
2c (8 oz) Fontina (grated)
2c (8 oz) Parmesan (grated)
2t Worcestershire sauce
1/2t Pepper
3c (12 oz) Any pasta shape of your choosing
1c Bread crumbs (optional)

Yield: This recipe feeds eight people easily as a side dish.

Cheese note: If you have trouble finding fontina, you can just up your amounts of parmesan and cheddar, or even add something like a Gruyere swiss. The dish is much better with the fontina, though. Do not use goat cheeses (unless that yakky taste really appeals to you). Even if you're turned off by sharp cheddar, you should use it -- the sharpness drops significantly on baking/mixing, but keeps a distinct cheese flavor (a trait many mac and cheeses lack).

1. Heat oven to 400º.

2. Grease a large casserole dish (3-to-4 quarts).

3. Cook pasta according to instruction for your chosen shape al-dente (you can skip forward and start #4 while this is cooking). Toss pasta in olive oil when finished to prevent sticking, coat more evenly with cheese and ramp the taste slightly.

4. Combine cream, half-and-half, egg yolks and nutmeg in a good-sized sauce pan over medium heat. Add 1-1/2 cups of each of the cheeses. Stir frequently until all cheese is melted (about 10 minutes), being sure not to let it boil (boiling causes the cheese to "break" and gives it a distinct broken-down rubbery feel). Add Worcestershire sauce and pepper.

5. Place cooked pasta in the casserole dish, and coat with melted cheese mixture. sStir a bit to make sure everything is well-coated.

6. Sprinkle remaining uncooked cheese on top.

7. Bake for 15 minutes.

8. If adding bread crumbs, sprinkle them on top when the edges have turned golden brown, and crank the oven up to broil for about a minute. If you're not using bread crumbs, just keep cooking until the top is golden brown. serve hot.

Please leave a comment here if you make this recipe.