By Julian Rothman
As the Thanksgiving season comes to an end, a new viral recipe spreading across the internet has been widely acclaimed by influencers and the public. This recipe, created by food influencer “Tini,” is claimed to be incredibly rich, creamy, and flavorful, while not even using macaroni, opting for corkscrew pasta or “Cavatappi” as it’s known. I set out to see for myself if this recipe is worth the effort or just hype.
The first thing I noticed when I found the recipe on Sugar and Soul was the vast amount of ingredients and preparation required. The recipe states that you need to use exclusively hand shredded blocks of cheese, and considering the sheer quantity the recipe calls for, you’ll definitely be in for an arm workout.
Once the cheese is shredded, the rest of the process becomes much simpler: measure out the liquids and spices, boil your pasta, and make your cheese mix.
An important thing to note is that this recipe calls for certain ingredients like evaporated milk and colby jack cheese that not everyone carries in their pantries.
I personally found that you should bake the dish for a few minutes more than the recipe recommends to make sure the cheese is perfectly cooked.
Once it’s out of the oven don’t let it rest for more than a few minutes. It should come out golden bubbly, but it might cool down quickly. The first thing I noticed once I started plating the macaroni is how insanely thick and stretchy the cheese sauce is, with a consistency similar to very stretchy cake batter. But when the time came to actually try it I was completely blown away. I can only describe the sauce as perfectly creamy and richer than anything you’ve had before. The mix of spices and different cheeses creates a strong pleasant flavor you don’t see in other mac & cheese recipes.
If you cook the cavatappi just right before putting it in the oven, it should still have a slight bite, which pairs wonderfully with the creaminess of the cheese sauce. Even my brother Mark Rothman loved it, saying, “it’s very rich and cheesy.”
I would absolutely recommend this be served at dinners, gatherings, or even to be consumed personally as a side dish. Tini’s mac & cheese is definitely worth the hype.
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