Macaroni and Cheese

I usually think of this as more of a winter time dish, mostly because it requires turning on the oven, but my daughter recently requested the recipe, so here it is.

There is no real good way to make this a low fat meal -- you can use low fat milk, but there is no substitute for really good sharp cheddar cheese -- so just think of this as a "splurge" and forgive yourself!

For some reason elbow macaroni is the traditional pasta to use for this -- its just one of those "we've ALWAYS done it that way" things, but it can be done equally well with medium or small shell pasta -- you want something that the sauce will cling to.

You'll want to adjust what sort of pan you bake this in based on your family's preference. At our house we like the crusty edges, so I bake in a fairly thin layer in a pyrex pan -- the same one I cook lasagna in -- lots of crusty edges -- yum! If you're not so into the crusty parts, a round pyrex backing dish works too.

So here's the recipe:

2 c raw elbow macaroni
2 c shredded sharp cheddar cheese
2 1/2 c milk
2 tbls flour
2 tbls butter
1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp yellow mustard

Cook macaroni following package directions -- don't overcook

Melt butter in sauce pan, add flour to form roux -- let it cook a little bit to take out the raw flour taste

Whisk in milk, worcestershire sauce and mustard. Continue stirring until sauce begins to thicken.

Stir about 2/3 of shredded cheese into sauce and continue stirring until the cheese melts.

Drain macaroni and return to cooking pot. Pour cheese sauce over macaroni and mix well.

Pour sauced macaroni into greased baking pan, top with remaining shredded cheese.

Bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes

Enjoy!!