My macaroni :)

daisygirl17

I promised I'd post my macaroni recipe...but I promise it's not that hard It was flattering that you all liked it so much, though!!

***note this was a HUGE recipe...it made that entire casserole dish I brought PLUS a small square casserole dish (like half the size of the one I brought to the GTG) I left at home, so if you're making it for you and your DH, I'd cut it to like 1/4 or 1/3 of the size.***

Ingredients:

• Your favorite pasta...I used a BIG 32 ounce bag of penne 
• 2 Tablespoons butter
• 1 small onion, minced (I used about half of a medium sized yellow onion)
• 1 Tablespoon of all purpose flour
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1/4 teaspoon of dry mustard
• 1/4 teaspoon of paprika
  
• 2 Cups of milk
• 3 Pounds cheddar cheese-shredded  (yeah, I used a TON)
  

Now, I think part of why it has such good flavor is because of the cheese I buy. I buy the BIG 2 pound thing of Tillamook Vintage White Extra Sharp Cheddar cheese, then I bought a 1 pound of just medium sharp cheddar. I tried making it with ALL of the vintage white once and it was a little too much of that flavor. I get it at New Seasons but I've also seen it at Fred Meyer. The vintage white looks like THIS

Yeah so that's a ton of cheese, I know. But, it makes it super yummy...and like I said it made a TON.

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease the casserole dish (I just spray with Olive Oil, but I use EVOO for everything)
   
2. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add macaroni and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until al dente; drain, then place into prepared casserole dish.
3. Melt the 2 tablespoons of butter in a saucepan (make sure to do a sauce pan..I made the mistake of doing a frying pan at first haha) over medium heat. Stir in the minced onion and cook until the onion softens and turns translucent, about 5 minutes.
4. Stir in the flour, pepper, salt, paprika and dry mustard until mixed, then pour in the milk and bring to a simmer. (I might have even done a little bit more than 2 cups of milk, I like it to be super creamy) Simmer, stirring constantly until the milk has thickened, about 10 minutes. Turn the heat down to low and stir in the Cheddar cheese until melted. (add it one handful at a time, stir in that handful until melted, then add more) Pour cheese sauce over the macaroni.
5. Bake until the top is bubbly, about 20 minutes.DH likes his to be crispy on top, so the one that I left at home, I turned the oven to broil for like 7 minutes...he likes it slightly brown/golden/crispy on top.

Enjoy!! Seriously it's sooooo easy and sooo yummy. I really think it's either the onions or the vintage white cheese that makes it so good. Oh and I used a crap ton of cheese, I don't think I used so much when I made it for Thanksgiving. But, what I typed here is exactly how I made it today!

Let me know if you have any other questions

 

 

 

Jeff & Em

Holy cow that had a lot of cheese in it!  It was fabulous!  : )  

That's our favorite Tilamook cheese, too.  We had cheese and cracker night last week and I realized we had some leftover from nachoes the week before.  I went and pulled it out halfway through our meal and it had big ol' Jeff teeth marks in it.  Yes, he totally opened up what was left, took a bite out of it, and then wrapped it back up and put it back in the fridge.   

daisygirl17

Jeff & Em:

Holy cow that had a lot of cheese in it!  It was fabulous!  : )  

That's our favorite Tilamook cheese, too.  We had cheese and cracker night last week and I realized we had some leftover from nachoes the week before.  I went and pulled it out halfway through our meal and it had big ol' Jeff teeth marks in it.  Yes, he totally opened up what was left, took a bite out of it, and then wrapped it back up and put it back in the fridge.   

hahaha that's hilarious. yeah, i didn't realize how much cheese it was...i actually was only going to use half of each thing of cheese, but i asked DH to help me shred it this morning....and i turned around for a second, then turned back and he had shred ALL of both cheeses....so i figured eh what the hell I'll use all of it...so it was extra cheesy you probably don't need that much, though. don't forget though, it was a HUGE batch!