There are a lot of things you will learn about me from reading my posts. The first thing you are going to learn is I love to cook. It’s challenging and it’s my stress reliever. There is always potential to make your dish better and that makes it fun. Whether it’s adding another ingredient or adding a different spice or cooking it a little differently there is always something new to try.
That is the case with this recipe. Forever ago, I posted this basic recipe for Mac and Cheese. Well, it wasn’t forever ago, it was a couple years ago. Which is like forever in internet time because I am convinced it goes faster than normal time.
Since I posted it I have tried to make it better and better each time. I am happy to report that husband proclaimed this, “The best Mac and Cheese you have ever made.” Then he suggested I quit trying to make it better because it cannot get better. Lucky for you, I am going to share this delicious, creamy, sell-your-soul recipe so you can impress all the mouths in your family!
Can you say yum?! Nothing like homemade Mac and Cheese
Ashley’s Dreamy Mac and Cheese
8 ounces rigatoni noodles
4 tablespoons butter
4 tablespoons flour
1 cup milk
1 cup cream
4 cups cheese: 2 cups Romano or Asiago, 2 cups Sharp Cheddar
1/2 teaspoon salt
Black pepper
Cayenne pepper
Mustard
1/4 cup Planko breadcrumbs
1/4 cup crushed up Ritz crackers
4 Bacon strips chopped
First and foremost, I know most mac and cheese recipes call for the old fashioned elbow noodles. Don’t be fooled by this, if you want a really tasty mac and cheese you need a noodle that has ridges on it. The ridges hold the sauce on the noodles so you get a sauce that is better distributed and sticks to the noodles better. Get the noodles going while you make the sauce. Once they’re done just drain and set them aside until the sauce it done.
Sauce: Begin by melting the butter in a large saucepan. Add the flour, salt and pepper. The secret to not getting flour chunks in your sauce is getting the flour and butter ratio correct. The butter coats the flour so if you don’t have enough butter the base for the sauce will be chunky and we don’t want that.
Wisk the butter/flour mixture until blended. Add the cream and bring the sauce to a boil for 2 minutes. Once the sauce has boiled for 2 minutes, slowly add the milk and continue to boil for 10 minutes. Continue stirring the mixture the entire time to keep the sauce from burning. This boiling may sound monotonous. But believe me, it’s very important. You want the consistency of your sauce to be perfectly creamy so don’t skimp on the boiling.
Sauce in the works and getting close.
Once the sauce is think add the cheese slowly and let it melt. As a dairy farmer I love cheese. I love lots of cheese so I won’t judge you if you use more than 4 cups of cheese. To finish the sauce add in Cayenne pepper and mustard to taste.
It’s almost ready to go in the oven.
Add the noodles to the sauce and mix well. Transfer it to a baking dish. Sprinkle the breadcrumbs, crushed Ritz crackers and bacon on the top of the mac and cheese. You can also add in the bacon chunks into the sauce but I put mine on the top. Bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes.
Enjoy!
