The "Screw-It Gratin" with No Knife and No White Sauce: Macaroni Gratin Made in a Single Frying Pan

Ryuji has made a gratin video before, but that time there were many ingredients to gather and it was a real hassle. The main ingredients this time are just macaroni, cheese, milk, sausages, and mushrooms. When the staff asked whether Ryuji would make a white sauce or use flour, Ryuji answered that flour is fine to have, but it is treated as a seasoning, the same as salt and the like. On top of that, Ryuji expected that not much flour would be needed this time.

Regular shredded cheese mix is fine. However, Ryuji said that adding cheddar makes the dish taste better, and used cheddar for the sauce.

First, prepare a frying pan and tear the sausages (2) by hand into it. Ryuji's view is that tearing them gives the dish more of a chunky, hearty texture and makes it taste better. Ryuji added that anyone who doesn't want to get their hands dirty can cut them with scissors. There was also a mishap along the way when a piece of sausage flew off and fell on the floor.

For the shimeji mushrooms, cut off only the base; everything else is edible, so break them apart by hand and add them. Onions are often added to this kind of dish, but they are a hassle, so they're left out. "This time, it's screw-it mode," Ryuji says. Garlic can be added too, but with the family eating it in mind, it was left out this time; add it to taste if you like.

The butter is about 15 g, using two 8 g portions. The recipe serves two. When asked how long to sauté, Ryuji answered that it doesn't really matter. Everyone has too many fantasies about gratin, Ryuji says. With this many ingredients in it, there's no way it won't taste good, and in Ryuji's view it would be harder to make it taste bad. Bacon or ham can be used instead of sausages.

Once the ingredients are sautéed, add the milk. Ryuji initially poured in about 350 cc, to make up for not using heavy cream. Then the quick-cook macaroni (150 g) goes straight in. The staff were surprised and asked, "You don't boil it first?" but Ryuji answered that it isn't necessary, since quick-cook macaroni is done in 3 minutes. Regular macaroni takes about 10 minutes, which is a hassle, so these days everyone uses the quick-cook type, as Ryuji sees it.

Ryuji explains that this is the one-pan pasta method. When the macaroni simmers in milk, the wheat starch dissolves out. So only a little flour should need to be added later, and that turns it into a béchamel sauce, the reasoning goes. When the staff responded, "In theory, it's just butter and flour, right?" Ryuji agreed.

While it simmers, tear in the cheddar cheese. At first it was 4 slices, about 60 g, along with a teaspoon of chicken bouillon powder. The sauce then thickened, and Ryuji exclaimed, "It's turned kind of béchamel-like." It was a first attempt, but Ryuji was delighted that it worked just as expected from the theory.

Ryuji also said that the basic method is the same as for macaroni and cheese. The staff recalled the earlier "Ultimate Mac and Cheese" episode and remembered that it had been delicious.

On tasting, it was a little too strong, so it was thinned with 50 cc of water. Adding cake flour would make it more gratin-like, but Ryuji says it doesn't seem necessary, because the cheese melts and becomes the roux on its own. At this stage there was a bit too much macaroni, so Ryuji asked the staff, "Do you want it a little more béchamel-like?" Deciding that if you want plenty of sauce, it's fine to add all the milk, Ryuji ended up using the full 500 cc. Being able to use up a whole carton of milk is another plus, Ryuji says. One more slice of cheese was added as well, bringing it to about 75 g. Processed cheese or ordinary cheese is fine, but cheddar tastes better, Ryuji says. Finally, four shakes of pepper and a stir, and it had thickened. Ryuji described the piping-hot result as something an American mom would make.

At this point it is already delicious as a macaroni dish, but according to Ryuji, it isn't a gratin yet. To make it a gratin, it needs cheese on top. Using cheddar for everything would get expensive, so regular pizza cheese is spread evenly over the top, and it is baked in a toaster oven in a heatproof dish. No preheating, at 300°C, for about 8 to 10 minutes. Ryuji added that in a regular oven, 200 to 250°C is fine.

While waiting for it to bake, Ryuji started saying, "I feel like this isn't a gratin." To Ryuji, a gratin is something rich with béchamel sauce. The sauce this time isn't béchamel but "reduced milk." So although it looks like a gratin, it's different from a Japanese gratin and closer to the kind of gratin an American mom would make, Ryuji explained.

At one point the staff asked whether it was okay to add 500 cc of milk all at once, since béchamel is usually thought of as made by adding the milk a little at a time. Ryuji's answer was this: you add it gradually to keep the flour from clumping, and since no flour was added this time, there's nothing to clump.

Regarding Japanese-style gratin, Ryuji says there is an expectation that it isn't a gratin unless flour is added to make it thick and creamy. Japanese gratin is a dish where you eat the cream more than the macaroni, with far more béchamel. Ryuji's way of framing it is that this one is a "pasta gratin," distinct from a béchamel gratin.

That said, Ryuji stated that if you serve something as "gratin" and the person eating it feels "this isn't gratin," it's a failure, regardless of whether it tastes good. Ryuji personally thinks that anything topped with cheese and baked is a gratin. But then pizza would be a gratin too. People can be narrow about what they accept a dish to be, and Ryuji sees everything as pasta, so this is both a pasta and a gratin, Ryuji also said.

Even so, Ryuji had a feeling it would succeed, because the macaroni had been simmered. The staff were hopeful too, saying that if it worked, it might be a great invention that spares you from making béchamel. The staff later laughed that while it was baking, Ryuji had kept making excuses the whole time out of fear of failure.

After about 8 minutes it had browned, and when it was taken out, the staff exclaimed, "Something incredible has been made." It looked completely like a gratin, and everyone agreed it would be a hit on the dinner table.

The staff who tasted it said, one after another, "Delicious," "That's a gratin," "That's totally a gratin," and "It's totally béchamel," so the worries from before baking turned out to be unfounded. There were also comments that the hearty chunks of ingredients were great, that it was because the mushrooms were added whole, and that the sausages were good. Ryuji said, "This might be a gratin revolution," and rated it the easiest gratin Ryuji knows. Because it's baked, the macaroni also keeps its texture, Ryuji said. With so much cheese piled in, everyone agreed it's irresistible for cheese lovers and kids would probably love it too. For a change of flavor, a splash of Majisco went over well, as it paired nicely too.

Ryuji says that using this as a base, the variations are endless. The examples given were seafood such as a frozen seafood mix, broccoli, frozen spinach, mushrooms, and boiled kabocha squash. For the macaroni, quick-cook salad macaroni is easy, Ryuji said.

This time it took about 30 minutes with all the trial and error, but Ryuji estimates that making it again would be faster, about 20 minutes. There was also a half-joking exchange that even if a home party were decided an hour beforehand, you could go to the supermarket and make it in 30 minutes. The amount fit perfectly in the large heatproof dish Ryuji always uses, but even half the amount easily makes two servings, so half is enough, Ryuji also said.

Finally, Ryuji recommended this recipe as a gratin you can still make in time for Christmas. Ryuji and the staff wrapped up by remarking that even though it's called "screw-it," the finished dish doesn't look that way at all.