This is a gooey cheese sauce with three simple ingredients, it can be made well ahead of time without fear of splitting when reheated, and it sets to a cream cheese texture in the fridge for ever so indulgent cheese sandwiches or grilled cheese. If the quantities are altered just ever so slightly you can pour the molten cheese on to a tray and set it in the “American” cheese slices.
The main components of the sauce are cheese, liquid and sodium citrate. Sodium citrate is the only odd ball ingredient here, it’s a sodium salt of citric acid and an emulsifying salt, it’s not too tricky to get hold of, you may need to order it online though. Cheese is a bit of a no brainer, any cheese you want, or a mixture. Liquid, can be water, beer, wine, stock, if you want a really luxurious sauce though, use reduced milk or add skim milk powder to the liquid, the extra protein makes for a much creamier sauce and my preferred addition.
The quantities are:
100 parts Cheese, finely grated
93 parts Liquid
4 parts Sodium citrate
(eg. 300g cheese, 279g liquid, 12g Sodium citrate)
- Pour the liquid into a pot and add the sodium citrate, place over a medium heat, stir to dissolve the sodium citrate, bring to a simmer.
- With either a whisk or immersion blender start stirring and adding the cheese bit by bit.
- Once all the cheese is incorporated and you have a thick emulsified sauce remove from the heat.
- Either use immediately, stir through some elbow pasta for the most over the top mac and cheese, or transfer to a container and when cool store in the fridge.
- The sauce can be used as a spread, grilled, stirred through hot pasta, up to you.
Recipe inspired from Modernist Cuisine
