![]() ![]() My family loves this dish and always requests it. If you double the recipe you can make it in a 9X13. You can easily double this recipe for a bigger gathering, I always double it for the holidays. Macaroni and cheese goes great with our recipe for Southern baked beans. We can’t get enough of this dish and if you take it somewhere, you won’t bring any home. Serve it during holidays, take it to any gathering or just make it for family and friends at home. This recipe has many great reviews and it is perfect for any occasion. Your family will love the richness of this easy recipe for this old favorite. Mix your panko breadcrumbs with butter and finish the dish by topping it with the breadcrumb mixture.Macaroni and cheese is a great side dish for any meal. Then add your pasta, mixture thoroughly, and spread evenly in the baking dish. Turn the heat off, then fold in your cheese and stir until no remaining lumps are in the sauce. Once it’s mixed, pour the egg/sauce mixture into your pot and stir to combine. This will prevent the egg from scrambling and slowly raise the temperature of the egg to the temperature of the sauce. Crack an egg into a small bowl and add a small amount of the hot liquid to the egg. The egg will add some body and creaminess to the macaroni and cheese. The sauce will begin to thicken – which is exactly what we want! Temper in the egg Stir until thoroughly combined and bring to a low boil. Once the flour has been cooked out, add the cold half & half along with bay leaves, salt, pepper, garlic powder, paprika, cayenne, and ground nutmeg. Let this cook for about 5 minutes stirring occasionally to cook out the flour while preventing burning. ![]() Add the flour and whisk until smooth and no lumps remain, then add your ground mustard and do the same. ![]() To make your cheese sauce, start by melting butter over medium heat until it “sings” and crackles. Under-cooking when boiling your pasta will ensure your finished dish isn’t a disintegrated mess by the end and you actually get al dente pasta! Make the Béchamel Sauce We are going for extra al dente pasta here – the reason is the pasta will continue cooking in the hot cheese sauce and while being baked in the oven for about 20 minutes. ![]() This step is KEY – when boiling your pasta (in salted boiling water), drain the pasta a good FOUR MINUTES sooner than the package directions say. Set aside about 1 cup of the cheddar cheese aside for the cheese topping at the end! Boil and drain the pasta Here I’m using both sharp cheddar and gruyere cheeses. I highly recommend grating your cheese from the block! Pre-shredded cheese is oftentimes coated with anti-clumping agents to prevent sticking, which results in less melting and sometimes a grainy texture. This was a 2.5 quart baking dish which was perfect for holding the pasta and all the sauce after cooking. Having made macaroni and cheese too many times to count, I cannot stress how important the size of your baking vessel is! I’m using 12 oz of pasta here, with about 3 cups of half & half as the base of the béchamel sauce. This recipe is pretty straightforward but there are a few key steps to make the best macaroni and cheese, so let’s get started! Choosing your baking dish My Ultimate Macaroni and Cheese: Recipe Instructions I like to keep a couple wedges of high quality cheese at home and my favorite place to buy them from is Costco! The quality and price is unbeatable. You can also taste the grainy texture from the additives. If at all possible, I would highly recommend not using pre-grated cheese! Pre-grated cheese contain preservatives to keep the cheese shreds from clumping and I find they don’t melt together as well. I do not recommend subbing these, as this is a key ingredient in this dish! This provides an incredible contrast to the rich and creamy pasta + cheese mixture. Panko breadcrumbs are drier and flakier than regular breadcrumbs, so they absorb less oil and creates a light & crunchier crust when baked. My main reason is because shells allow for more cheese to get captured within the fold when baked – this gives each mouthful a more even ratio of pasta to cheese! But you are more than welcome to use macaroni (or whatever short pasta of your choice) for this recipe! While traditional recipes use macaroni, I like to use shells in my version. I know, I know – the dish is macaroni & cheese. ![]()
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