Creamy Stove Top Macaroni & Cheese

Cheese is amazing! I love me some mac & cheese. I try to limit my pre-packaged foods as much as I can. I figured, why can't I make my own mac & cheese? Now I've made some fancy baked mac & cheese before. It's GOOD. but I wanted a recipe I could make that would take like 5 minutes and still be good & way better than the boxed kind. A quick Google search and done. Thank you Alton Brown! It's like so easy you will die. Then you will die again when you taste the cheesey goodness.

P.S. Those are sesame chicken fingers- recipe coming soon!

The surprising ingredient for me? Hot sauce! It just adds enough of a twang. Or a tang. Whatever it is its good, but don't worry its not spicy at all. I've tried with regular elbow pasta & brown rice pasta and both were fab.

Creamy Stove Top Mac & Cheese
Recipe adapted from The Food Network

Makes enough for 3-4 people. Easily doubles

• 1/4 lb. elbow macaraoni or shell pasta (2 cups dry)
• 2 TBSP unsalted butter
• 1 egg
• 3 ounches (1/2 small can) evaporated milk
• 1/4 tsp hot sauce
• 1/2 tsp salt
• pepper to taste
• 1/4 + 1/8 tsp dry mustard
• 5-6 ounces cheese of choice - sharp cheddar, Jack or Mexican work well

Cook pasta to al dente according ot directions in large pot of salted boiling water. While pasta is cooking, whisk egg, milk, hot sauce, salt, pepper & dry mustard together in a small bowl. 

Drain & return pasta to pot. Add butter and stir until melted.Turn heat on low & add egg mixture. Add cheese and stir until melted and well combined- about 3 minutes. Serve right away.

Enjoy!

Macaroni and Cheese - without the blues!

Macaroni and cheese! Macaroni and cheese! Who doesn't love this stuff? I've never made a wholehearted attempt at making my own before. A couple times when I was nannying and the pantry didn't have anymore blue Kraft boxes, I tried. I would cook noodles- add melted butter, milk, cheese and salt and pepper and cook on the stove. I never thought of thickening the sauce and baking it- genius! Besides, I got a couple quizzical looks and "Hey! This does not look like mac and cheese..."'s...

I found this recipe from Bree and I love it! The mustard powder and Worcestershire sauce really give it that tasty, mature flavor. It definitely won't give you the blues... OK now that we're all singing that jingle...moving on..

Again, I halved this recipe and baked in a 9inch Pyrex pie dish (because someone broke my sweet little 8x8 glass pan...). This worked well, and I wouldn't change a thing (Except maybe buy a new pan..hint hint G, if you're reading this) ! You can experiment with different types of noodles. I used the kind that look like little shells (I forget what they're called) and it was super tasty. To give you an idea of how much this makes, half of this recipe was enough for 2 dinners for 2 people. Perfect with these baked chicken fingers. The bf said he loved it- especially the crunchy bits on top. This is a perfect "grown up" mac and cheese.

Macaroni and Cheese

• 2 TBSP butter
• salt and pepper
• 1 lb. pasta shells (or pasta of choice)
• 1/4 cup AP flour
• 1 tsp dry mustard
• 4 cups whole milk
• 12 oz shredded cheese (I did 1/3 cheddar, 1/3 Monterrey jack, 1/3 Italian blend)
• 2 tsp Worcestershire sauce

Crumb topping:

• 3/4 cup Panko (Japanese breadcrumbs)
• 4 TBSP melted butter
• salt and pepper
• chives for garnish (I didn't feel like doing any chopping...)

Preheat oven to 375. Cook pasta according to package directions for al dente. Melt butter in large saucepan over medium heat. Add mustard and flour. Whisk together for 1 minute.

Pour in milk and whisk until it comes to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until sauce is thickened (3+ minutes). It should coat the back of a spoon.

Remove from heat and whisk in cheeses.

Add Worcestershire sauce and season GENEROUSLY with salt and pepper.

Add pasta and toss together. Check the seasonings- add more salt/pepper if needed.

Pour into buttered 13x9 dish (or smaller single-serving dishes). Mix together topping ingredients until crumbs are well-coated.

Sprinkle on top of mac and cheese.

Bake 20 minutes or until golden and bubbly. Garnish with chives, if desired and serve!

Goes well with baked chicken fingers!

*Update- I made a second time with whole wheat mini shells, skim milk and Italian breadcrumbs in my NEW 8x8 Pyrex dish. It was just as tasty and the leftovers are delicious! :)

Enjoy!

-Marissa