broccoli shells n cheese (aka ho-made velveeta sauce)
Whenever I want to eat some pasta but don’t want to Eat Pasta, I dump whatever random frozen vegetable bag remnants are in the freezer into the water to boil while the pasta cooks and instantly feel multitudes better about the choice. Broccoli in particular (cauliflower works too, but it’s way more beige) breaks down really well into a sort of hot cruciferous pesto sauce, and in the past I’ve just drained it, splashed in some cream and some shredded cheese, and called it a Friday. Fine. Totally acceptable.
But this was before I got really into sodium citrate.
I have now reached the point in my pandemic arc where I am ordering advanced molecular gastronomy ingredients from the internet to try and make better mac n cheese.
liking this cute lil countertop staging zone
I learned not long ago that it’s the magic ingredient that turns cheese into Velveeta, and have been obsessed with it ever since as I have never actually eaten Velveeta and now I know I will never have to. Molecular science aside, the ability to thwart elemental structure and transmute cheese into molten queso lava is the kind of power all people with a God complex crave, and so I have had a lot of fun these last two weeks. In addition to being able to make smooth, stable cheese sauce out of just it, cheese, and a liquid base (water or milk), you can use it to turn ANY kind of cheese you want into Velveeta. Velveeta Asiago. Velveeta Gouda. Velveeta Gruyere.
The reason this is posted immediately after its cousin, Cauliflower Gnocchi Mac n Cheese, is because it does the unthinkable: it used up my reheated, leftover cheese sauce. Last night I made too much, so I decided to put it to a proper test by reconstituting it from the cold, refrigerated pudding it formed overnight. I knew already it would be stable, but there has never before in the history of food been a cheesy, creamy sauce that actually is just as good on the second day. And yet here she is, and she is glorious.
If you are someone who’s always been kinda underwhelmed by ho-made mac, it is maybe because you’ve been missing ho-made Velveeta. One bag of this weird white powder in the pantry and you are only ever shredded cheese away from the best mac and cheese of your life.
*enlarged to show texture
RECIPE
A variation on Modernist Cuisine’s mac and cheese with sodium citrate, this mac has another simple trick—cooking broccoli in the same water as the pasta breaks the broccoli down entirely, allowing you to make a cheesy, velvety broccoli sauce that doesn’t quite lift mac and cheese to health food status but does elevate it all the same.
Effortful time: <5 minutes
Total time: 15-20 minutes
Serves 2
YOU NEED
For the ho-made Velveeta
2/3 cup milk (best) or water (emergency use)
2 tsp. food-grade sodium citrate
2 cups shredded cheese of your choosing; I used cheddar jack here
A pinch of cayenne, optional
For the shells
8 oz shells or orecchiette pasta
1/4 cup shredded cheddar
8 oz frozen broccoli florets (you can use fresh, but for some reason frozen works better here)
A few cracks of black pepper, to taste
MAKE IT
The cheese sauce:
Prep the sodium citrate base. Heat the water or milk in a 2 qt. saucepan over medium heat. Stir in the sodium citrate until fully dissolved.
Cheese it up. Add handfuls of the cheese, whisking continuously, until all the cheese is smooth. Then add the next handful. The whole process takes about 5 minutes.
Season your sauce. I like cayenne, as listed here, but paprika, chili powder, chili flakes, or similar will also work. You can keep it over low heat without fear of breaking; just stir it periodically so it doesn’t get a film on top.
For the shells
Boil the pasta water with broccoli already in it. Salt water for pasta and add the broccoli. Once it reaches a boil, add the pasta and cook to al dente. The broccoli should be falling apart. Drain.
Combine broccoli pasta with the cheese sauce. Put the pasta back in the pot and stir in the cheese sauce. Heat over low to marry everything together, about 1 minute. Add the extra shredded cheddar and give it a few stirs just to get some stringiness.