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• Gluten-Free Macaroni And Cheese In A Few Easy Steps. Preheat your oven to 400° F. In a large bowl combine whisked eggs, evaporated milk, powdered mustard, salt, pepper, and Tabasco and mix together until fully combined. (photo 1, photo 2) Boil the pasta according to the box’s direction in a large pot.
• 12 ounces gluten-free rigatoni or penne (we like brown rice pasta) 1. Preheat the oven to 375°F. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil to cook the pasta.

Combine gluten-free macaroni and a touch of cheese sauce magic and, voila, a new (for me) no-wheat mac and cheese is born.

For those eschewing wheat, standard mac and cheese has three wheat issues.

One: Standard macaroni is made from wheat.

Add pasta to cheese sauce and stir well; pour into the prepared baking dish. Combine remaining 1 cup Cheddar cheese, gluten-free bread crumbs, 1 teaspoon butter, and paprika in a bowl; sprinkle over pasta mixture. Bake in the preheated oven until top is crunchy, about 30 minutes.

Gluten Free Mac And Cheese Sauce Recipe

Two: Most mac and cheese sauces begin with a roux, where butter and flour are cooked together.

Three: Toasted, wheat-based bread crumbs top what many consider a classic mac and cheese.

I've tired of many of my terrific not-mac and cheese creations, and I really missed the standard and wondered if I could create a wheat-free mac and cheese that was nearly identical.

No surprise, mac is the main wheat source in mac and cheese. First, I searched the web for nonmanufacturer affiliated websites that had tested and ranked wheat-free pasta. The Epicurious website -- epicurious.com/expert-advice/the-best-gluten-free-pasta-you-can-buy-online-article -- recommends an old favorite: Jovial brand 100-percent Organic Brown Rice Gluten-Free Pasta.

About Jovial's brown rice pasta, they quoted their Senior Food Editor Anna Stockwell: 'I've fed it to people who could not tell they were eating gluten-free pasta at all. This stuff is magic.'

Magic? Hmmm. Just what I was looking for.

Lucky me, there was an unopened box of Jovial's organic, gluten-free macaroni (12 ounces/$4.49) in my pantry. Perfect.

Melting cheese into a sauce without a roux was my next hurdle since melting a block of cheddar cheese and stirring it into pasta doesn't work. It separates into a fairly gloppy mess.

So, it's molecular gastronomy to the rescue with a, once again, magical solution: sodium citrate ($7.99/2 ounces at Amazon).

Sodium citrate makes processed cheeses (like American or Swiss) melt beautifully. You've probably used a processed cheese on a burger or grilled cheese without knowing that sodium citrate was the magician pulling a perfect melt out of the hat.

Turning to a Modernist Cuisine mac and cheese sauce that uses cheese (any kind), sodium citrate and liquid (anything from water to milk) solved my no-wheat cheese sauce dilemma.

For those who need to bake a breadcrumb topped macaroni and cheese, my solution to that is grated (I use my food processor's grating blade) baked pork rinds into a topping that looks like bread crumbs.

Preferring the ease of a one-pan, no-bake mac and cheese, while my brown rice macaroni simmered away, I grated 8 ounces of organic, raw milk white cheddar. Using a 2-quart saucepan, I whisked a ½-teaspoon of sodium citrate into a half-cup of water until it dissolved. Then, I brought the water to a low simmer and began whisking in the cheese. At first, once all the cheese was added, the sauce looked a little thin. Soon it began to thicken and looked just like a regular roux-based sauce. I drained the macaroni and stirred it into the sauce until it was mixed well. A few grinds of black pepper, and it was ready to serve.

The results could not have been better. I could not tell that this was a no-wheat mac and cheese. The macaroni was both smooth tasting and my cheese sauce clung perfectly.

Almost magic.

• Don Mauer welcomes questions, comments and recipe makeover requests. Write to him at 1leanwizard@gmail.com.

Zero Wheat Macaroni and Cheese

8 ounces, 100-percent Organic Brown Rice Gluten-Free Macaroni

½ teaspoon sodium citrate

½ cup water (or milk, your choice)

8 ounces extra sharp, cheddar cheese, grated (I prefer organic)

Add 2-quarts water to a 5-quart saucepan and place over high heat. Stir in 1 tablespoon kosher salt (or 1½ teaspoons sea salt) and bring to a boil. Add the macaroni and bring back to boil, while stirring. Reduce heat to a low simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, for 10 to 12 minutes. (I begin tasting at 10 minutes).

While macaroni cooks, add sodium citrate and water to the bottom of a 2-quart saucepan. Bring to a simmer of medium heat. Add the cheese, a handful at a time and whisk into the liquid. As each handful melts, add the next handful until all the cheese has been incorporated. If the sauce is too thick add a tablespoon of liquid.

When the macaroni is done, drain and add to the cheese sauce; stirring until well combined.

Serves 4

Nutrition values per serving: 440 calories (42.5 percent from fat), 20.8 g fat (12 g saturated fat), 43.7 g carbohydrates, 0.3 g sugars, 2 g fiber, 19 g protein, 60 mg cholesterol, 528 mg sodium.

Cheese Sauce

Mac And Cheese Sauce From Scratch

• Melt the butter in a saucepan and add the cornstarch and rice flour. Combine the mixture with a wooden spoon and cook for 2 minutes on a low heat, stirring occasionally.
• Don't wander away! Gluten free roux is pretty easy to burn. With so few ingredients in such a short time, this is not the step you work on while you multi-task especially if you're trying it for the first time. Flour can burn as can butter if it cooks on a too-high temp. So, while your cooking roux make sure it's just the roux and you.
• Try other flours. Our gluten free roux uses rice flour to create the thickening sauce. This isn't the only gluten-free flour. If you're looking for a different taste, consider using almond flour or even corn flour.
• Sticking to a paleo diet? Substitute another flour for the rice flour. Some great grain-free flour alternatives are cassava flour and plantain flour. You can also substitute the butter for lard, bacon grease, tallow ghee, or coconut oil.