A spaghetti sauce recipe calls for cheese roux concentrate. It's added to the saucepan plus one cup of water. Should I just follow a cheese roux recipe, not bother about it being concentrate, i.e. adding a cup of water.

If I make my own cheese roux I'd need directions, especially what type of cheese to add for a spaghetti sauce?

I'm a terrible cook. Make the roux recipe detailed and dummy proof!

 

I don't think I have ever seen a spaghetti sauce that starts with a roux. What are you making?

You say you have a recipe but are asking strangers online for the ingredients in that recipe. It doesn't make sense. If we give you different ingredients then you might be making a completely different dish.

Another thing I don't understand is why why or what they are calling a "concentrate".

A roux is just a fat and a thickener like flour. The magic comes in the caramelizing/browning. You'll have to follow your recipe for what roux they want. Butter and flour is a common and easy one but you can use almost any oil or fat and almost any type flour or corn starch for the thickener. What you choose can have a big impact on the flavor of your dish.

 

So firstly, I've never heard of a cheese roux concentrate. Sounds like something you might buy. If you're making it yourself, I'd forgo the concentrate and just add the roux, which is basically a sauce. I also never heard of adding this to a spaghetti sauce, but guess it doesn't hurt to try it. I often try new recipes, to never make them again, lol.
So I'll give you my roux recipe, not concentrate.
In a saucepan, melt 2 tablespoons butter and add 1 heaping tablespoon flour. I actually put them both in from the start. Don't have the heat more than medium and even low medium so the butter doesn't burn. Keep stirring till it's the color you want. It can be very light for a white sauce to a pale gold, to a golden to a brown color, depending what you're making. I'd probably make it light to pale for this. I would use milk for a cheesy sauce, but I suppose you could use water. Anyway, add the liquid (one cup) a little at a time, constantly stirring until it bubbles, then add more liquid, stir, bubble, till all the liquid is added, then let it bubble for about a minute constantly stirring. The reason I add the liquid a little at a time like that is to get rid of lumps from the flour. I end up with a smooth roux everytime. You can double the recipe if you want more.
Then I would take it off the heat and stir in the cheese till it melts. I've only used cheddar for mac and cheese, but I suppose I'd use parmisan for a spaghetti sauce. Not sure how much cheese you should add. I'd start with a cup and taste. You can always add more cheese if it needs it. Then I'd add it to the sauce, a little at a time, again stirring.
That's how I would make it. Someone else may have a different recipe.

 

Your replies make sense. The whole recipe didn't make sense to this uninformed cook. Thanks for clarifying.

 

I thought I'd hop on to clear up a little of the mystery of this recipe. This "cheese roux concentrate" is part of a Hello Fresh meal Spaghetti with Brussels Sprouts - by the way - it's totally delicious. There's a youtube video showing the prep, including how to deal with the little packet of "cheese roux" . The sauce is a very light cream sauce that is used to toss the pasta and Brussels sprouts. The packet says parmesan, so I'm guess that really all that is in the concentrate is the flour, oil or butter and the melted parm. The water that's referred to is reserved pasta water from preparing the noodles. Also, a missing piece of the puzzle is the cream cheese that is also added to the sauce. I found this post because I want to replicate the recipe, and "cheese roux" stumped me too. I didn't prepare the HF meal, so I didn't see the reference to the cheese that was used, but I was thinking of using gouda in my version. I think I still will, we'll see how it turns out.
From my research, I think "cheese roux concentrate" is native to Hello Fresh, and it's just being used to cut down the time of actually making a roux and adding cheese that also takes time to melt.
The meal was GREAT, - so much so that we wanted it again this week.
The poster below gives great basic instruction on roux prep - you can see ratios elsewhere by searching roux recipes. The pasta is not DROWNED in sauce, so I'd say make a pretty small amount (you're going to use 1 cup of the pasta water, so go from there). I guess it all depends on how much you intend to make.
hope this helps a bit.

 

I think what you have is probably a type of bechameI. I make a bechamel sauce for pasta. Start with a flour/butter roux and add whole milk - not water. Once the sauce comes together melt some grated (Parmesan) cheese and it's good to go. It's a great sauce for lasagna instead of ricotta cheese.

You can find bechamel sauces all over the internet.