Now let’s cook
Mac and cheese. The cheddar stretches, the kurt adds character: a little hard, salty dried curd of strained fermented milk goes into the sauce and over the top.
Ingredients
- 350 g short pastaShort dried wheat pasta, such as spirals or elbows.
- 28 g butterButter made from cow’s milk.
- 23 g plain wheat flourPlain (all-purpose) white wheat flour.
- 500 ml whole milkWhole cow’s milk; it is the base of the sauce.
- 250 g mature cheddarGrated mature cheddar melts into the sauce.
- 30 g kurtHard, dried pieces of strained fermented milk (ayran or katyk); kurt comes salted or unsalted.
- 1.25 ml black pepperFreshly ground black pepper, added at the end.
Method
Heat the oven to 200 °C. Cook the pasta for 2 minutes less than the packet says, then drain it.
Grate the salted kurt on the finest side of the grater and set 10 g aside for the top.
Melt the butter in a saucepan, stir in the flour and cook for 1 minute, stirring.
Pour in the milk a little at a time, whisking all the while so no lumps form. Let it bubble gently for 5 minutes, still whisking, until the sauce thickens.
Take the pan off the heat and stir in the cheddar until smooth. Then stir in the remaining 20 g of kurt, a spoonful at a time.
Stir the pasta into the sauce and divide it between four individual ovenproof dishes.
Bake for 20 minutes, until the top is golden.
Scatter the reserved kurt over each portion, grind over some black pepper and serve at once.