Give your mac and cheese some smoky flavor with a pinch of paprika

Mac and cheese is the ultimate comfort food, and few spices are as proportionately warm and cozy as paprika. If you haven’t added a pinch of sweet, smoky spices to your favorite macaroni recipe, it might be time to start. Paprika melts well and dyes dishes a deep, luscious amber hue, making it a natural choice for your next batch. This tip works for slow cooker macaroni and cheese, baked macaroni, or simple stovetop preparation.

To do this, simply add a pinch of paprika to your old, reliable, tried-and-true mac and cheese sauce recipe. If you don’t have a favorite recipe, simply make a béchamel sauce with butter, flour and heavy cream, then add paprika and cheese of your choice. To avoid overloading the dish, start with 1 teaspoon of paprika and adjust from there, testing the taste after each addition.

For this dish, choose a cheese with a relatively high liquid content and strong enough to stand up to the bold flavor of paprika. Extra sharp cheddar, sharp white cheddar, smoked gouda, gruyere, swiss or provolone would all work well. For even melting, opt for grated cheese or grate it and stick to a cheese that melts well (i.e. not aged or hard varieties like Parmesan or Pecorino). Use elbow pasta to keep the mac vibe going strong, but corkscrew cavatappi pasta would also be really fun for this elevated dish.

Read more: 44 Types of Pasta and When You Should Use Them

The familiar meets the dimensional

Using different types of paprika can significantly change the taste of your dish, and depending on your taste preferences, you may want the paprika to be a strong supporting character or the star of the show. Paprika is made from a mixture of different peppers dried in the Potatoes family, ranging from sweet to spicy. The “regular” paprika you might find at the grocery store is sweet and mild, perfect for adding just a little something to your favorite macaroni recipe. Hungarian paprika is still sweet but a little more spicy. Spanish paprika is the boldest variety, especially smoked chilión paprika, which will instantly create darkness and depth in your creamy mac and cheese. With these varieties in mind, the amount of paprika you add to your mac will depend on the type you use. Trust your palette!

If you’re feeling particularly adventurous, paprika can be just the start of your tasty mac and cheese mix-ins. Chopped green onions, black sesame seeds, or pureed butternut squash would all make delicious additions. For a little crunch, you can top each bowl with crispy golden panko breadcrumbs, shredded fresh purple cabbage slaw, or spicy fermented kimchi. Do you want to increase the lot? Try incorporating charred cauliflower florets, broccoli seared in liquid smoke, pulled pork, ground sausage, bacon bits or lobster. You can even add a little Worcestershire sauce to your béchamel for an umami touch.

Read the original article on the tasting table.