Pasta - Macaroni and Cheese for a crowd 

This includes a few different methods depending on when you want to prepare it.

Boil all 48 oz (3 lb) pasta in 12 qt pot with about 9-10 qts water and 1/4 c salt added. When cooked al dente, immerse and rinse in cold water to stop cooking. Rinse in ice water. Drain well, run through salad spinner to get all water out and store in large plastic bag until ready to serve.

Make recipe 3 times for 75-100 large servings total,
Store and reheat in 3 stainless steel 8 qt pots.
For 48 oz (3 lb) (dry) pasta
     serving 24-36 people (about 4 qts sauce)
2 sticks unsalted butter
1/2 c flour (1/4 c if boiling noodles in sauce)
1 T salt
1/2 t white pepper
1 T fresh ground dry mustard
12 c whole milk
3 c heavy cream
1 1/2 lb (24 oz) jack cheese, shredded
1 1/2 lb (24 oz) sharp cheddar cheese

*Sub for heavy cream: 1 c butter and 2 c milk. Just add it to the existing recipe making 1 lb butter and 14 c milk.

* Make white sauce and boil noodles in water to hold in advance.
Over medium heat in 8 qt pot, melt butter until foaming subsides. Add flour, salt, pepper and dry mustard, Cook until flour is golden and smells fragrant. Whisk in 6 c milk until sauce is thick. Whisk in another 6 c until thickened and bubbly. Simmer gently a bit. Whisk in cream just until it bubbles a little. Remove from heat. Cool and store. Reheat in 8 qt pots or crock pots.  Do not mix white sauce with cheese until after it is warm, Stir hot white sauce and grated cheese and cold noodles together. Warm in about 300* oven for a very little while to thoroughly warm before putting in warmer to hold. Mix as close to serving time as possible, but it does need about 20 minutes to properly absorb the cheese sauce into the noodles. ***(If you simmer the cheese, it may get grainy.)

**Made just before serving or holding in warmer using large pot.
Use 12 qt pot to melt butter and add only 1/4 c flour. When all 12 cups of milk are just beginning to bubble add the noodles and stir well. Simmer and stir. Noodles will be tender in just about 10-15 minutes. Keep them stirred off the bottom. When just barely al dente stir in heavy cream then stir in cheese. Let the residual heat melt the cheese then you can hold the casserole at 170* for quite a while. I've made this for church so it held for 3 hours and still made great leftovers that afternoon.

***Made just before serving or holding using hotel pan.
Melt butter in hotel pan in 350* convection oven (may need to increase to 400* but watch it carefully). Whisk in only 1/4 c flour, salt, pepper and dry mustard and return to oven to simmer a little until foamy and nutty, be careful not to burn. Whisk in 6 c milk, cover pan, and return to warm in oven. Stir every 5-10 minutes. Whisk in other 6 c milk and return to oven, covered. When quite warm add the noodles and stir well, covering pan. Simmer in oven until noodles are just barely tender, about 10-15 minutes. When just barely al dente stir in heavy cream then stir in cheese. Let the residual heat melt the cheese then you can hold the casserole at 170* for quite a while. I've made this for church so it held for 3 hours. One big advantage of this method is that you can make two hotel pans in my convection oven at the same time. That is mac and cheese for 50-75 folks in one oven!

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