Creamy & Dreamy, everything you want in a Mac & Cheese!
This recipe has a few "specialty" cheeses but there is a work around you can buy two bags of "Mac & Cheese Blend" from your local grocer and it works just fine.
Add a few pieces of bacon for a real party 🙂
Preheat oven to 325°F and grease a 9x13" baking dish. Set aside.
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. When boiling, add dried pasta and cook 1 minutes less than package directs for al dente. Drain and drizzle with a bit of olive oil to keep from sticking.
While water is coming up to a boil, grate cheeses and toss together to mix, then divide into three piles. Approximately 2 cups for sauce, 1 cup for inner layer, and 1 cup for the topping.
Melt butter in a large saucepan over MED heat. Sprinkle in flour and whisk to combine. Mixture will look like very wet sand. Cook for approximately 1 minute, whisking often. Slowly pour in about 2 cups or so of the milk/half & half, while whisking constantly until smooth.
Slowly pour in the remaining milk/half & half while whisking constantly, until combined and smooth.
Continue to heat over MED heat, whisking very often, until thickened to a very thick consistency. It should almost be the consistency of semi-thinned out condensed soup.
Stir in spices and 1 cup of cheese mixture until melted and smooth repeat with 1 additional cup until smooth.
In a large mixing bowl, combine drained pasta with cheese sauce, stirring to combine fully. Pour half of the pasta mixture into the baking dish. Top with 1 cup of remaining cheese. Add the other half of the pasta mixture to the dish smooth it out and add the remaining cheese to the top of the dish.
Bake for 15 minutes until cheese is bubbly and lightly golden brown.
**You can throw the finished dish into the broiler to add a little color if you wish, we do 🙂
Serve and ENJOY!
Ingredients
Directions
Preheat oven to 325°F and grease a 9x13" baking dish. Set aside.
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. When boiling, add dried pasta and cook 1 minutes less than package directs for al dente. Drain and drizzle with a bit of olive oil to keep from sticking.
While water is coming up to a boil, grate cheeses and toss together to mix, then divide into three piles. Approximately 2 cups for sauce, 1 cup for inner layer, and 1 cup for the topping.
Melt butter in a large saucepan over MED heat. Sprinkle in flour and whisk to combine. Mixture will look like very wet sand. Cook for approximately 1 minute, whisking often. Slowly pour in about 2 cups or so of the milk/half & half, while whisking constantly until smooth.
Slowly pour in the remaining milk/half & half while whisking constantly, until combined and smooth.
Continue to heat over MED heat, whisking very often, until thickened to a very thick consistency. It should almost be the consistency of semi-thinned out condensed soup.
Stir in spices and 1 cup of cheese mixture until melted and smooth repeat with 1 additional cup until smooth.
In a large mixing bowl, combine drained pasta with cheese sauce, stirring to combine fully. Pour half of the pasta mixture into the baking dish. Top with 1 cup of remaining cheese. Add the other half of the pasta mixture to the dish smooth it out and add the remaining cheese to the top of the dish.
Bake for 15 minutes until cheese is bubbly and lightly golden brown.
**You can throw the finished dish into the broiler to add a little color if you wish, we do 🙂
Serve and ENJOY!