Cheesy Pasta w/Broccoli (variation of Smitten Kitchen)

Start with the finished product: This recipe makes enough for 2 adults and one hungry 2-year-old. Scale it up by multiplying all the ingredients by any multiplier and it should all still work fine.

Full credits for the original recipe: https://smittenkitchen.com/2018/02/quick-essential-stovetop-mac-and-cheese/ (Love Deb Perelman and Smitten Kitchen)

J. Kenji Lopez Alt's video that taught me the recipe: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4_GeqmWPxEE

My aim in this variation was to add a lot of vegetables (and who doesn't love cheese on broccoli??). But at the end I'll give some suggestions where you could take this further.

Mise en place: 200g (dry) of pasta, any kind, cooked and cooling; A bunch of broccoli, steamed; 18g of butter; 11g of flour; 220g milk; 55g of cheese- I did half pecorino and half cheddar.

Clock reads: 5:41pm.

Melt the butter in the pot. I use the same one I just made the pasta in, so it's hot and melts fast.

When the butter is melted, stir in the flour and cook it for a minute or so, mixing it around.

Dump in the milk. Ignore the rule of "You need to slowly add it". That is one way, but this way works too. Kenji explains why in his video. Stir like crazy after adding it, and keep stirring while it slowly comes to temperature on medium low.

Keep simmering it on very low until it's thickening up a bit, stirring regularly. Congratulations, you've made a basic béchamel sauce.

While that finishes dice up the broccoli. You choose how much based on your heart, but I honestly aim for about 1/2 as much broccoli as pasta. My kid is no slouch on veggies, but this definitely helps make sure she gets enough.

Pull the sauce from the heat and dump in the cheese, mixing it in well.

You're melting the cheese into the béchamel while you stir, making a lovely cheese sauce. If it comes up a bit lumpy, that's okay- some cheese maybe didn't melt perfectly. It's still tasty.

I like to add a bunch of freshly ground black pepper. Adds something nice to the whole thing. Usually I add it while the béchamel is thickening up, before the cheese, but I'm very forgetful.

Then dump in your pasta...

And dump in the broccoli bits.

Stir until everything is all cheesy, then serve in bowls.

Clock reads: 5:48pm. Seven minutes, after the pasta is ready. You can cook the pasta ahead of time and pop it in the fridge in a container if you like. I just usually use a pasta that cooks quickly (around 5 minutes).

Some variations:

Add garlic to the butter while you're melting it and cook that into it.

Use any kinds of cheeses you like. We use pecorino (sheep milk) and goat cheddar because my spouse has a reaction to many cows milks.

Swap up the veggies and spices. Maybe try some chili powder, sharp cheddar cheese, and pickled jalapenos- southwest mac and cheese. I've been really hoping to try out doing Swiss and Gruyere with a ton of caramelized onions in a french onion soup direction.

I had thought adding so much vegetables would mean there wasn't enough cheese, but I definitely was wrong- it still works well.

Super versatile recipe with lots of room to modify it.