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Scrambled Cheese Sauce

Asked by Jadeseab. Answered on 18th February 2020

Full question

My Macaroni Cheese went a bit like scrambled egg mac and cheese. Why?

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Macaroni Cheese
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Macaroni Cheese
Photo by Lis Parsons
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By Nigella
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Our answer

Nigella's Macaroni Cheese (from NIGELLA EXPRESS) has a quick and easy sauce made from eggs, cheese, and evaporated milk. This mixture is added to the cooked pasta and the whole dish is then quickly browned in the oven. The sauce itself is not dissimilar to a carbonara sauce and the eggs should thicken the mixture.

We are not sure at what point the sauce became scrambled, but it would be due to the eggs being heated too much. We suspect that it may have happened when the sauce was mixed with the drained cooked pasta. The sauce and pasta should be mixed in the pasta pan, but should not be over a heat source. The "hot pan" should have residual heat from when the pasta was cooked, rather than being set on the hob. If you are not sure, let the pan and pasta cool very slightly before adding the sauce. If you are using a cast iron saucepan to cook the pasta then you may need to let it cool for a few minutes before mixing the pasta and sauce or use a separate bowl, as cast iron pans retain heat for longer than steel and copper pans.

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