This week I tried Terry Crews’ mac and cheese (Mack and Jeezy) as seen on Tasty. I chose this recipe because it does not use a roux for its sauce, which has been an element in all of my recipes so far. The recipe also features cottage cheese which I don’t think I have ever used, especially in mac and cheese. So, I was a little bit wary of how it would go or if I would like the flavour/texture.

Ingredients: 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  • 8oz macaroni
  • 2 cups cream-style cottage cheese
  • 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
  • 8oz sour cream (1 small carton)
  • 1 egg, beaten
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 tbsp oil for the baking dish
  • Sweet paprika, to garnish

Instructions:

  • Boil a pot of salted water and cook macaroni until al dente. Drain and rinse with cold water.
  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees F or 180 degrees C.
  • Combine cottage cheese, sour cream, egg, and salt in a bowl. Add in the shredded cheese. Fold in the macaroni.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  • Grease an oven-safe dish with oil (I used olive oil).
  • Transfer pasta to dish.

  • Top with extra cheese and paprika to taste.

  • Bake for 45 minutes.
  • Serve!

Thoughts:

Add-Ins – This was my first recipe without breadcrumbs. Instead, the topping was simply shredded cheese and paprika. The paprika was quite subtle, but provided a nice visual as well as complimented the cheddar. Other than that this recipe did not incorporate any other add-ins.

Texture – Being without the breadcrumbs, there was no crunch on top. However, having the shredded cheddar on top as opposed to a breadcrumb mixture created a lovely layer of browned baked cheese. The cheese also got a little bit crispy along the edges. I was a little bit concerned about what the cottage cheese would be like in a baked recipe, but I found that the curds mostly baked away and you couldn’t tell it was in there texture-wise.

Colour – This recipe had a fantastic colour. The cheese on top baked to a golden brown, and the cottage and cheddar cheese mixture within made for a marbled effect throughout. I was really happy with the colour of this recipe, as it showed all the warm gooey cheesiness.

Cohesiveness – This was not a gooey recipe. It was cheesy and delicious, but as it was made without a roux there was no binding white sauce. The cream-style cottage cheese was the main element to keep it all together, but it did so pretty subtly. However, this is not a flaw in the recipe at all. The low gooey factor worked well. Due to the types of cheeses and other ingredients, a super cohesive mac wouldn’t have made sense. It also made this recipe feel relatively light, as opposed to a heavy mac and cheese that makes you feel like you need to have a nap afterwards.

Flavour – The flavour profile was pretty perfect in my opinion. The sharpness of the cheddar was balanced by the cottage cheese and sour cream. There was also the paprika on top added a subtle sweetness that balanced the salt of the cheeses. I chose to use sweet paprika rather than a hot one because I wanted more cheesy than spicy, but it would be fun to try the hot someday.

Overall, I reeeaaalllyyy liked this mac and cheese. It was beautiful, delicious, and so easy. Not having to make a roux and white sauce knocked off a lot of time and effort. I am going to be making it again. I also took it to a family get together and it was a hit (unfortunately for me because then there were no leftovers). Out of all the recipes I have made so far this has proven to be #1.