It’s hard to pass up a comforting bowl of mac and cheese. Yes, I’m looking at you Kraft Macaroni & Cheese, with your uniform elbow noodles and tangy, powder-kissed sauce. But if you want to elevate your mac and cheese game, executive chef Dushyant Singh of Blue Hound Kitchen & Cocktails offers up his recipe that has real cheese and much swankier pasta.

At Blue Hound, Singh serves his Mac ‘N Cheese as a side dish. “It goes really well with everything. For me, a perfect combo would be a pork chop with mac and cheese,” he says.

Singh prefers using cavatelli pasta because it holds its shape well, but if curly noodles aren’t your thing, feel free to peruse the dry noodle section for another option. “Just make sure it’s a high-quality pasta.”

Mac ‘N Cheese

Ingredients (for one serving)
4 oz. cooked cavatelli pasta
4 oz. béchamel sauce
1 oz. Manchego cheese
1 oz. white cheddar
1 oz. mascarpone
1 tbsp. butter
Salt to taste

Preparation
1. Drop pasta into boiling water; bring béchamel up to temperature in a pan with butter, mascarpone and half of the cheddar and Manchego cheeses.
2. Check for seasoning, and then add the pasta. Mix thoroughly and then pour into vessel.
3. Top with the other half of the cheddar and Manchego, then brown in the oven.
4. Top with chives and serve.

Béchamel Sauce (makes 4 servings)
1 gallon whole milk
1 lb. butter
1 lb. flour
zest of one lemon
2 each bay leaves
2 each garlic cloves
Salt to taste

Method
1. Melt butter in pot over low heat, add flour and mix until incorporated.
2. Add milk and lemon zest, slowly bring up to a simmer, stirring frequently to avoid scorching.
3. Cook until you can’t taste flour, about 45 minutes.
4. Taste for seasoning and adjust if necessary.