HOMEMADE BAKED MACARONI AND CHEESE

Hello Everybody! How is it going in your house? Are you enjoying the social distancing or is it causing you to want to rip your hair out?? Or a little of both?

Here in NC, the pollen is everywhere which is driving ME to rip my hair out!! During pollen season (Spring and Fall for me), I pop an Allegra every morning “just in case.” When that doesn’t work, I pop a Benadryl, am useless for about a day (drowsy and/or unconscious), then I’m fine. I’m a very cheap druggy, let me tell you!!

Continuing on with our expansion of our family dinner menu, we made barbecue ribs and baked macaroni and cheese the other night for dinner. I realized I never shared the macaroni recipe with y’all. It is one of my family’s favorites! I found it on momontimeout.com.

Print Recipe

HOMEMADE BAKED MACARONI AND CHEESE

Course

Main Dish

Cuisine

American

Keyword

pasta

Prep Time

20 minutes

Cook Time

30 minutes

Servings

people

Ingredients

• 16 ounces elbow macaroni cooked
• 1 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
• 6 Tbsp unsalted butter
• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 3 cups whole milk
• 1 cup heavy whipping cream
• 4 cups sharp cheddar cheese shredded
• 2 cups Gruyere cheese shredded
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 1/2 cups panko crumbs
• 4 Tbsp butter melted
• 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese shredded
• 1/4 tsp paprika

Course Main Dish Cuisine American Keyword pasta Prep Time 20 minutes Cook Time 30 minutes Servings people Ingredients 16 ounces elbow macaroni cooked 1 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil 6 Tbsp unsalted butter 1/3 cup all-purpose flour 3 cups whole milk 1 cup heavy whipping cream 4 cups sharp cheddar cheese shredded 2 cups Gruyere cheese shredded salt and pepper to taste 1 1/2 cups panko crumbs 4 Tbsp butter melted 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese shredded 1/4 tsp paprika

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350° F. Lightly grease a large 3-4 quart baking dish and set aside. Combine shredded cheeses (excluding parmesan) in a large bowl and set aside.
2. Cook the pasta one minute less than directions on box. Remove from heat, drain, and place in a large bowl.
3. Drizzle pasta with olive oil and stir to coat. Set aside to cool while preparing cheese sauce.
4. Melt butter in a deep sauce pan. Whisk in flour over medium heat and continue whisking for about one minute until bubbly and golden.
5. Gradually whisk in the milk and heavy cream until nice and smooth. Continue whisking until you see bubbles on the surface and then continue cooking and whisking for another 2 minutes. Whisk in salt and pepper.
6. Add two cups of shredded cheese and whisk until smooth. Add another two cups of shredded cheese and continue whisking until creamy and smooth. Sauce should be nice and thick.
7. Stir in the cooled pasta until combined and pasta is fully coated.
8. Pour half of the macaroni and cheese into the prepared baking dish. Top with remaining 2 cups of shredded cheese and then the remaining mac and cheese.
9. In a small bowl, combine panko crumbs, Parmeasan cheese, melted butter and paprika. Sprinkle over the top and bake until bubbly and golden brown, about 30 minutes.

We love this recipe but it’s very bad for out diet!!

We’ve also built one of the barn doors for our master bathroom. We’re just copying the plans from our master closet barn door except there will be two doors for the bathroom. The LOML cut all the pieces, I stained them, we glued and nailed all the pieces together and now I’m polyurethaning it. ALMOST DONE!!

This is the back side of the door that we’ll see when we’re standing in the bathroom.

Hope everyone is doing okay! Stay safe and healthy and enjoy this down time as much as possible!

Love y’all,

Linda