Trader Joe’s Mac and Cheese

1 oz (1/4 cup) butter
2 oz (a little less than 1/2 cup) all-purpose flour
4 oz good quality white Cheddar cheese, grated
3 oz good quality Havarti cheese, grated
2 oz good quality Gouda cheese, grated
1 oz good quality Swiss cheese, grated
3/4 tsp salt
24 oz milk (3 cups) whole milk (or 2% for less calories)
white pepper
nutmeg
1 lb De Cecco elbow pasta

Start by putting a large pot of water on to boil the pasta-make sure to salt it well.
Now, start making the cheese sauce, but if the pasta water comes to a boil before you add the cheese to the sauce you are making, turn it down.
Melt the butter in a medium sized pan over medium heat, then add the flour and stir well.
Continue to cook while stirring for about 3 to 4 minutes, but do not let it brown. (Cooking the flour well is important because the sauce will have a “raw-flour” taste if it isn’t cooked long enough.)
Have the milk close by in a jug that is easy to pour from, and add a little drop of milk. The milk should sizzle and steam immediately, if it doesn’t, turn up the heat a little. Once the milk does sizzle, begin adding a little at a time, and stirring quickly to keep the sauce smooth. The secret to not having lumps in white sauce is to gradually increase the amount of milk you add each time; if you add too much at once, especially early on, chances are you will end up with lumpy sauce (which is completely reparable with an immersion blender)!
Start with about 2 tablespoons of milk, then 2 more, then a little more each time. Once the sauce begins to form, you can add more milk each time. Just make sure all the milk has been absorbed after each addition, before adding more.
Once the sauce is finished, add salt, nutmeg and white pepper to taste, and lower the heat.
At this point, add the pasta to the boiling water. Stir well, and stir the white sauce, too, so it doesn’t stick. Now, add the grated cheeses to the white sauce, and stir until it is melted, adjusting the heat if necessary. Stir constantly or it will stick.
When the pasta is ready (al dente), drain and return to the pot and stir in the cheese sauce; serve hot.

NOTE: The following recipe will make enough cheese sauce (about 4 1/2 cups) for about 2 lbs of pasta. Because the cheese sauce freezes perfectly, it’s worth making a larger batch and freezing half for another time. To make less sauce, halve the sauce recipe.