Mom's Mac & Cheese
Yield: 5 servings
Materials
- 1 lb pasta Penne, macaroni or other favourite
- 2 cups cheese I suggest a combination of sharp cheddar, gruyere and asiago cheeses.
- 3 tbsp unsalted butter
- 2 tbsp all-purpose flour
- 2 cups milk
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ tsp dried mustard
- ½ tsp ground nutmeg
- ½ tsp cayenne
- 1 cup breadcrumbs Panko or regular
- ½ onion (optional)
- ½ lb bacon or ground meat cooked
- 8 oz frozen spinach
Instructions
- Heat oven to 350 degrees. Coat a 3-quart rectangular baking dish with non-stick spray
- Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to boiling. Cook pasta to al dente, typically what it says on the package (7-9 minutes) keeping in mind that it will bake for another 30 minutes in the oven. Drain and rinse with cool water. Place in baking dish.
- Toss all the shredded cheeses together in a large bowl, set aside. Separate ½ cup to sprinkle on top
- Melt butter in a medium-sized saucepan over medium heat. Whisk in the flour until smooth and slightly bubbly. Cook for 1-2minutes to cook the flour thoroughly. The longer you cook it the darker it will get. Apparently there are 12 shades of Mornay sauce, but I don’t have the patience to get beyond 1-2 minutes!
- Add 1/3 of the milk and whisk thoroughly while it comes back to a slow boil. Boil gently for a minute or two and then whisk in the remainder of the milk. Stir in the salt, nutmeg, dried mustard and cayenne.
- Bring to a boil over medium high heat. Reduce heat and simmer 3 minutes. Remove from heat; whisk in cheese mixture (all but ½ cup) and stir until smooth.
- Before proceeding, add any optional ingredients (sauteed onions, spinach, ground meat or bacon) to the cooked pasta.
- Pour the Mornay sauce into the baking dish and add a generous cup of the reserved cheese on top.
- Sprinkle bread crumbs to the top of mixture.
- Cover with foil and bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes. Remove foil and broil for 5 minutes or until crumbs are lightly browned and the cheese is bubbly. Cool slightly before serving.