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Who doesn’t love Mac and Cheese? It’s the ultimate of comfort food . The rich creaminess of the cheese, the toasted crunchy topping from the breadcrumbs and the soft chewy like noodles are just deliciousness in your mouth.
I’ve worked a number of times on making this recipe. I think I got it right with this one. The challenge was to get the amount of cheese and milk portion just right to make that creamy cheesy mac and cheese we knew as a kid growing up. In fact this is a remake of my Baked Mac and Cheese in my cookbook that I wrote a number of years ago. I enjoy this updated version and I hope you do too. Let’s face it, it’s all about the cheese in the sauce.
Perfect with Chicken Strips
Ingredients
- 1 lb of Large Elbow Macaroni
- 8 Tbsp of Butter
- ¼ cup of onions, chopped
- ½ cup of Flour
- 2 cups of Milk
- 2 cups of heavy Whipping Cream
- 3 ½ cups of grated Cheddar Cheese
- 1 ½ cups of grated Gruyere Cheese
- 1 cup of grated Swiss Cheese
- Salt – if needed (take note that the cheese has a lot of salt in it already)
- 3 Tbsp of butter
- 1 cup of Panko Bread Crumbs
- ½ tsp White Pepper
- ¼ tsp Paprika
- ½ tsp Garlic
- 2 Tbsp chopped Parsley
Directions
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees
- Grease the bottom and sides of baking dish
- In a sauté pan cook the onions until translucent, when done, place in a small bowl.
- In a large saucepan, bring water, dash of salt to a boil and add the macaroni. Cook till al dente. Drain and then drizzle a little oil to prevent sticking together.
- While the macaroni is cooking, combine the milk and whipping cream together in a bowl. In another bowl combine the grated cheddar, Gruyere and Swiss cheeses together. Reserve 1 cup for the middle and another cup for the topping. Melt 3 Tbsp in a small bowl and then add the 1 ½ cups of breadcrumbs, salt/pepper, garlic and white pepper.
- Melt the 8 Tbls of butter in another large saucepan on medium heat. Once the butter has melted slowly add in the flour and whisk together. Keep whisking while cooking the roux for about 2-4 minutes. We’re cooking it to get a nice brown and nutty taste and cook out the flour.
- Slowly add in milk, continuing to whisk into the roux mixture till well blended. Cook til the sauce thickens. Gradually add in 4 cups of the cheese mixture and stir together till well blended into the sauce.
- Then add in the cooked macaroni and mix together until blended. Pour half of the macaroni in a baking dish. Add 1 cup of the cheese and sprinkle over the macaroni. Pour the rest of the macaroni on top and add the remaining 1 cup of cheese on top. Then sprinkle the breadcrumb mixture on top.
- Bake for about 30-35 minutes til thoroughly heated through and the cheese has melted and the breadcrumbs are toasted.
- Cool and serve with chopped parsley, if desired, your favorite choice of meat or salad.
