Sinfully Delicious Mac n Cheese

So this last week in culinary school, we've been making lots and lots of sauces, most of which are the "mother sauces" that are unseasoned and used as a base to make "small" sauces.
For the most part, these five sauces- veloute, espagnole, bechamel, hollandaise and tomato, are pretty bland, unusual consistencies and as I mentioned are unseasoned so they haven't been the biggest pleasure to work with.
However, we finally started using these base sauces to make "small" sauces and all the work finally paid off. We've made Allemande and Supreme sauce from the veloute (which I used for creamed spinach and chicken pot pie respectively.) From the espagnole, we made Chasseur and Bordelaise sauces (which I used for pork tenderloin and steak respectively.)
From the hollandaise, which is the only one seasoned and can be served as is, we made Bearnaise and Choron and used all three for asparagus and scallops.
The tomato we turned into Creole sauce and Spanish sauce, which we paired both with pasta and used the base tomato sauce for lasagna. And last but not least, we turned the Bechamel into a Mornay sauce, which is essentially code for CHEESE sauce!

This cheese sauce we then used to make Mac n Cheese and Asparagus Au Gratin. Here is the recipe for the Mac n Cheese, which is sinfully delicious, cheesy and oh so rich! First you must start off by making the Bechamel sauce, which only consists of 3 ingredients. Start off by making the white roux, which is clarified butter and flour cooked just enough to cook out the starch but still leave the mixture white. Constantly whisk while you are cooking it so it doesn't burn or color.

You'll need 1 part roux to 8 parts liquid. So for 1 quart of milk, you'll need 2 oz of clarified butter mixed with 2 oz flour. After the roux is to the correct consistency, slowly add the 1 quart of whole milk, constantly whisking as you incorporate. Do not let the sauce burn, so keep it on a low heat. Once it is lump free, let it simmer for 30 minutes at a low temperature and you will see it thicken ALOT.
To finish up the sauce, add 4 oz of grated gruyere with 2 oz parmesan (and I would add 2 oz fontina as well) with a little scalded cream and season with salt and white pepper and a pinch of nutmeg. The sauce should be thick, but still runny enough that it will coat the pasta. If it is too thick, you can add a little more cream or a little more milk.
Cook up your favorite kind of noodles, I would use elbow, rigatoni, penne or something of the sort. Put in a casserole dish and ladle the sauce over the noodles so they are fully coated. Top with a liitle more parmesan cheese, bread crumbs and a little butter (this will help brown the bread crumbs.)
Put in oven at 375 for approx 10 minutes and voila! Enjoy!
To make this even more luxurious, add pan fried pancetta and a tsp of truffle oil to cheese sauce before joining with noodles.

HEALTHY ALTERNATIVES:

So I realized that this was by no means a healthy meal and I decided to add some healthier alternatives when making this dish, but still keeping it yummy.
1. Instead of using Whole milk, use Fat Free Milk or Fat Free Half and Half. This will make the sauce a little bit thinner but it will still be smooth and creamy.
2. Use whole-wheat pasta.
3. Use less cheese and add fat free cream cheese to keep the consistency the same.
4. Add vegetables- onions and peas go well. Top with fresh tomatoes.