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 ↓
Macaroni Morsels with Cheese
Ingredients
Directions
Boil the macaroni
Bring 2 quarts of water to a boil.
Add 1 tablespoon of salt and 1 cup of macaroni morsels.
Boil until tender, about 15 to 20 minutes.
Drain the macaroni in a colander and rinse with cold water.
Layer and bake
In a buttered baking dish, layer the boiled macaroni and sprinkle with grated cheese.
Repeat the layers, then pour over white sauce.
Cover with buttered crumbs and 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.
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 morsels
- Form the pasta base that gives the casserole its bulk and chewy texture.
- Grated cheese
- Melts between the layers to add fat, savoury flavour and richness.
- White sauce
- Adds moisture and binds the layers so the casserole does not dry out.
- Buttered crumbs
- Toast in the oven to form a golden, crisp top through browning.
The step that matters
Rinse the macaroni with cold water after draining. Cold water stops residual cooking so the pasta stays firm rather than soft and mushy once baked in the sauce.
“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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