Macaroni and cheese

This recipe is from Cook's Illustrated. It serves six to eight as a main course and ten to twelve as a side dish. The recipe can be halved.

BREAD CRUMBS
6 slices whitw bread torn into pieces
3 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into 6 pieces

PASTA AND CHEESE

1 pound elbow macaroni (cook until just past al dente, it is better to overcook than undercook)
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon salt
5 tablespoons unsalted butter
6 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 and 1/2 teaspoons powdered mustard
1/4 teaspoon cayenne (optional)
5 cups milk
8 ounces Monterey Jack cheese, shredded (2 cups)
8 ounces sharp cheddar cheese, shredded (2 cups)

1. Pulse bread and butter in food processor until crumbs are no larger than 1/8 inch, ten to fifteen one second pulses. Set aside.

2.Bring 4 quarts of water to boil in Dutch oven over high heat. Add macaroni and 1 tablespoon of salt; cook until TENDER; Drain pasta and set aside in colander.

3. In now empty Dutch oven, heat butter over medium high heat until foaming. Add flour, mustard, and cayenne and whisk well to combine. Continue whisking until mixture becomes fragrant and deepens in color, about 1 minute. Gradually whisk in milk; bring mixture to a boil, whisking constantly ( mixture must reach a full boil to fully thicken). Reduce heat to medium and simmer, whisking occasionally, until thickened to the consistancy of heavy cream, about 5 minutes. OFF HEAT, whisk in cheeses and 1 teaspoon salt until cheeses are fully melted. Add pasta and cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until mixture is steaming and heated through, about 6 minutes.

4. Adjust oven rack to lower middle position and heat broiler.
Transfer mixture to BROILER-SAFE 9 by 13 inch baking dish and sprinkle evenly with bread crumbs. Broil until crumbs are a deep golden brown, 3 to 5 minutes, rotating pan if necessary for even browning. Cool about 5 minutes, then serve.

I like to put thinly sliced tomato and onion beneath bread crumbs. I haven't tried making this with Wondra instead of all-purpose flour but I bet it would simplify the roux. The secret to this recipe is the two cheeses. Any dish that contains pasta cannot be left overnight with the pasta in it or it gets very thick as the pasta absorbs the liquid. I recently turned turkey soup into turkey Jello.