I served it with a salad dressed with lemon to cut the richness of the mac & cheese. Really great flavor and texture- this will be my go-to mac & cheese from now on. I haven't used shells before for the pasta, but they really work well here. I also used a 'mac & cheese' blend of shredded cheese (cheddar, American, + swiss) from my grocery store. The only change I would suggest is to increase the pasta to 16 oz, since this recipe makes a LOT of sauce. I made this tonight and it might be the best mac & cheese I've ever made. I made it for a thanksgiving dinner so hopefully it’ll balance out with some lighter, more acidic sides. Agree with other comments saying that it’s surprisingly bland and heavy. Unfortunately, I found the garlic powder overpowering and everything else underwhelming. I can’t get enough miso so I was excited about this recipe. I also found the ratio for the roux off and used a lot less flour than suggested. Would also increase amount of miso, but mac and cheese is very good!

Transfer macaroni and cheese to a large shallow bowl or dish and sprinkle with more crushed red pepper flakes. Add reserved pasta and stir, adding more pasta cooking liquid to loosen sauce if needed, until pasta is well coated. sharp yellow cheddar, coarsely grated, and ½ cup pasta cooking liquid and cook, whisking, until cheese is melted and sauce is smooth once more. Add remaining milk mixture and whisk again until smooth. Whisking constantly to prevent lumps from forming, very gradually pour in 1¼ cups hot milk mixture, then cook, still whisking constantly, until smooth. Sprinkle ½ cup (63 g) all-purpose flour over and cook, whisking constantly, until combined and mixture is foaming but still very pale, about 4 minutes. unsalted butter in a large pot over medium-low heat. crushed red pepper flakes in a small saucepan to combine, then bring to a simmer over medium-high heat. Spread pasta out on a rimmed baking sheet and set aside. Drain, reserving 1 cup pasta cooking liquid (do not rinse pasta). conchigliette (small shells) in a large pot of boiling salted water, stirring occasionally, until al dente.

Roux ratio for mac and cheese