Beef on Weck Mac & Cheese

This recipe takes me home. Beef on Weck is a Western New York staple, mainly found in Buffalo. It’s a sandwich consisting of sliced roast beef on a Kummelweck roll, with au jus and horseradish. A Kummelweck roll is similar to a Kaiser roll, but it’s topped with coarse salt and caraway seeds. You can buy a Kummelweck roll in the baked goods section of any grocery store in the area (Wegmans being the best, of course). However, since moving down south it’s non-existent, so I settle for any sort of roll we can find when I make roast beef, or we have to make our own.

One of the last times I visited Buffalo, we went to a restaurant called Mooney’s with my dad. They were famous for their numerous variations of Mac & Cheese, and when I saw they had made a Beef on Weck Mac & Cheese I knew I had to try it. It was amazing and I thought about that meal often after coming back home. One day, my husband and I were reminiscing, I guess, and he remembered this dish. We decided to recreate it. We are chefs, after all, and I know Beef on Weck flavors so why couldn’t I whip something up? It had been several months, so it was up to my memory and culinary training to figure something out. But really, that’s pretty much how all my recipes are made. I’m inspired, and then test things out and make adjustments until we like it. I have had one recipe in my head and on multiple sticky notes for months but I haven’t gotten it quite right yet, and I can only make the same thing so often before my taste buds need a break, so it will be posted when it’s ready.

This one’s ready though. It’s been a few years since I first made it and we love it. I probably never make it exactly the same twice, but now that I’ve written it out for y’all, I’ll have a base recipe in case I forget. Which, let’s be honest, is often (#mombrain). This recipe is a great way to use leftovers from Grandma’s Roast Beef Sandwiches, which is what I did here. I had planned on making plain Mac & Cheese the other day, but remembered I had frozen the leftovers from New Years Day, so I whipped this up instead. My almost 3-year-old loves mac & cheese so this is definitely a hit with her. Plus, this meal feels a little more balanced since there’s some meat in it. You can serve it with a small salad or a veg if you want to add some other components, but we usually just eat a big bowl and call it a night. I’ll make it to my hometown again soon, but this might help in the meantime.

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Beef on Weck Mac & Cheese
Serves 6-8
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 30 min

• 1 lb uncooked macaroni
• 2 tbsp butter
• 2 tbsp AP flour
• 2 c heavy cream
• 1 c 2% milk
• 1 1/2 tsp salt
• 3/4 tsp black pepper
• 1/2 tsp onion powder
• 3/4 tsp garlic powder
• 1 1/2 tsp ground caraway seeds
• 5 c shredded cheddar cheese
• Topping:
  • 2 c shredded beef (use leftovers from Grandma’s Roast Beef Sandwiches)
  • 1/4 tsp ground caraway seeds
  • 1/8 tsp salt
  • 1 1/2 c shredded cheddar cheese
  • 1/4 c panko

1. Cook the pasta in salted water according to the directions on the box.
2. In a medium saucepan over medium heat, melt 2 tbsp butter. Add the flour and cook for 3 mins while stirring constantly.
3. Reduce heat to medium-low and, while whisking, slowly add heavy cream, then milk. Let come to a slow simmer, stirring often, then add salt, pepper, onion, garlic, and caraway and whisk together.
4. Again, while constantly whisking, add 4 c cheddar cheese one cup at a time, letting the first cup melt before adding another. Continue until all 4 cups are melted.
5. Add 1 cup of shredded cheddar to the cooked pasta and stir, then add the sauce, stir, and pour into a greased 9×13 pan.
6. Topping: Add shredded roast beef to the top evenly across the pan. Then sprinkle the caraway and salt, then the shredded cheese, then the panko.
7. Bake at 375 for 30 mins, or until cheese is melted and bubbly.