My Mother's Baked Macaroni and Cheese

My mother is a fabulous cook and has quite an impressive array of recipes that I use. The macaroni and cheese that I ate as a child (and still eat today!) was always packed full of creamy, delicious cheese. Just thinking about this makes my mouth water.

During the winter I tend to make more "comfort food." Perhaps it is the cold weather that makes me want to hibernate and eat. Whatever the reason, the end result is delicious. For this baked macaroni and cheese recipe, I used Barilla pasta. I love the ridges on the pasta that seem to grab the cheese and flavor so much better than smooth pasta. Any cheese tastes delicious in macaroni and cheese, but I used a blend of cheddar, American, Swiss, and pepper jack cheeses.

Ingredients:
1 box of pasta
2 cups of shredded cheese
2 tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon salt
pepper to taste
paprika to taste
4 tablespoons butter
milk

Procedure:
1. Cook pasta as directed on box.
2. Stir together the cheese, flour, salt, pepper, and paprika.
3. Drain the pasta and mix with the cheese, flour, salt, pepper, and paprika.
4. Top with butter and stir so that the butter melts into the hot pasta.
5. Put into a greased pan.
6. Level off the pasta, but don't pack down too firmly.
7. Pour milk over the pasta and cheese mixture. It takes quite a bit of milk. Pour slowly and allow it to sink into crannies inside the pasta. Top off several times until the milk fills the pan to the top of the pasta.
8. Bake uncovered at 350 degrees for about an hour.

I love the little crunchy edges on the mac and cheese. In fact, we all like them a lot at our house, so I did let this get a little bit brown around the edges. It's the perfect balance of crunchy on the outside and creamy and smooth on the inside. Delicious.

In an effort to try to balance my meal a little bit, I did pair the mac and cheese with a salad. I figure that they cancel each other, right?

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xoxo