Why it works: Cheese and sauce are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 19% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,987 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓
Baked Macaroni with Cheese
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Prepare
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
Assemble
Layer boiled macaroni in a buttered baking dish.
Sprinkle with grated cheese and repeat layers until the dish is nearly full.
Pour white sauce over the top layer.
Cover with buttered crumbs.
Bake
Bake until the crumbs are brown.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
Explore the science
The flavor team
The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.
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Cheese + saucetop 19% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together1,987 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Macaroni
- Forms the bulk and firm structure that holds the layered dish together.
- Grated cheese
- Melts into the sauce and adds rich, savoury flavour and creamy texture.
- White sauce
- Supplies moisture and creaminess that coats the pasta and keeps it from drying out.
- Buttered crumbs
- Toast in the oven to form a golden, crisp topping through browning.
The step that matters
Pour white sauce over the top layer. The sauce must reach down through the layers so the pasta absorbs moisture; if it stays on top, the macaroni can dry out while the top browns.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
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