INGREDIENTS
The cheese
- ½ cup (125 ml) unsalted butter
- ¼ cup (60 ml) all-purpose flour
- 2 ¼ cups (550 ml) 2% milk
- 2 cups (500 ml) grated orange cheddar cheese
- 3 tbsps (45 ml) mascarpone cheese
- salt
For serving
- Sriracha hot sauce
- 2 tbsps (30 ml) finely chopped, fresh chives
METHOD
Preheat a non-stick waffle iron (I repeat, non-stick!). Fill a large pot with water and bring to a boil over high heat. Add the salt and macaroni and give everything a stir. Cook the pasta for 8 minutes, or until al dente. Drain the pasta and return it to the pot. Stir in the butter to coat the pasta and ensure it does not stick together. Set it aside until you are ready to mix in your cheese sauce.
Melt the butter in a medium saucepan over high heat. Turn the heat down to medium-high and add the flour. Stir well until a paste forms and begins to lightly brown. It is important to cook the flour to ensure your mac ‘n’ cheese doesn’t have a floury taste! Pour the milk into the pan and whisk well. When the sauce starts to simmer and thicken, add the cheddar and mascarpone. Stir well until the cheese has melted, then remove from the heat. Reserve 1 cup (250 ml) of the cheese sauce and pour the rest over the cooked macaroni. Season with salt and stir to combine.
Ladle 1 to 1 ½ cups (250 to 375 ml) of mac ‘n’ cheese into the waffle iron to make 2 waffles and cook until the edges are golden and crispy and the waffle doesn’t stick, about 6 minutes. If you start to lift the lid and the waffle doesn’t cleanly pull away, then you know it’s not ready yet. Repeat with the remaining mac ‘n’ cheese. To serve, top each waffle with a drizzle of the reserved cheese sauce, a drizzle of Sriracha, and a sprinkling of chives.