Baked Mac and Cheese

Introduction

I am making Baked Mac and Cheese. I chose this recipe because I love mac and cheese and recently got into baking my own. I originally got whole foods mac and cheese, but it got expensive so I decided to try and make my own. It went really well in my opinion.

Ingredients

• 1 lb. dried elbow pasta
• ½ cup unsalted butter
• ½ cup all purpose flour
• 1 ½ cups whole milk
• 2 ½ cups half and half ( or just substitute with whole milk, based on opinion )
• 6 cups shredded marble cheese ( or any cheddar as long as it's not store pre-shredded )
• ½ Tbsp. salt

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 325°F and grease a 3 qt baking dish (9x13"). Set aside.
2. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. When boiling, add dried pasta and cook 1 minute less than the package directs ( so it doesn't get overcooked while in the oven ). Drain.
3. While water is coming up to a boil, shred cheese, then divide into three piles. Approximately 3 cups for the sauce, 1½ cups for the inner layer, and 1½ cups for on top.
4. Melt butter in a large saucepan over MED heat. Sprinkle in flour and whisk to combine. Mixture will look like very wet sand. Cook for approximately 1 minute, whisking often. Slowly pour in about 2 cups or so of the half and half, while whisking constantly, until smooth. Slowly pour in the remaining half and half plus the whole milk, while whisking constantly, until combined and smooth.
5. Continue to heat over MED heat, whisking very often, until thickened to a very thick consistency. It should almost be the consistency of a semi thinned out condensed soup.
6. Remove from the heat and stir in 1½ cups of the cheese, ( also any spices you may like to add ) stirring to melt and combine. Stir in another 1½ cups of cheese, and stir until completely melted and smooth
7. In a large mixing bowl, combine drained pasta with cheese sauce, stirring to combine fully. Pour half of the pasta mixture into the prepared baking dish. Top with 1½ cups of shredded cheeses, then top that with the remaining pasta mixture.
8. Sprinkle the top with the last 1½ cups of cheese and bake for 15 minutes, until cheesy is bubbly and lightly golden brown.