All American Macaroni Cheese Recipes

ALL-AMERICAN MACARONI & CHEESE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°F.
• While making cheese mixture, cook macaroni per package instructions. Drain and set aside.
• In a medium saucepan over medium heat, melt butter.
• Cook onion and garlic in butter until translucent.
• Add flour to saucepan and stir to combine, leaving no dry flour bits.
• Add milk all at once to saucepan along with black pepper. Stir to combine. Stir constantly until mixture begins to thicken.
• Stir in cheeses one at a time until melted, and mixture is smooth.
• Place cooked macaroni in a 1-quart casserole dish. Stir in cheese mixture until combined.
• Bake for 30 minutes or until top is lightly browned.
• Cool for 10 minutes and serve.

AMERICAN STYLE MAC AND CHEESE

Steps:

• Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until al dente. Drain and reserve.
• Preheat oven to 175 degrees C (350 degrees F)
• In a large sauce pan, melt 4 tablespoons butter or margarine over medium heat. Add flour and some ground black pepper to taste; stirring until paste-like consistency.
• Add milk to mixture and stir continually until mixture starts to thicken; slowly stir in cheese 1 cup at a time until all cheese is melted.
• Add double cream
• Pour cheese mixture over macaroni. Mix well and pour into a lightly greased 9x13 inch baking dish.
• Place bread pieces on top of macaroni mixture and season with salt and pepper to taste. Melt 4 tablespoons butter or margarine and pour over bread.
• Bake in preheated oven for 25 to 30 minutes or until bubbly and golden brown. Serve.

THE GREAT AMERICAN MACARONI AND CHEESE

Steps:

• Combine grated Cheddar and mozzarella and set aside.
• In a small saucepan, heat milk until near boiling. Turn off heat. Melt butter in a heavy pan large enough to hold the pasta after it is cooked. (It will take at least a 14-inch saute pan or a large casserole that can take direct heat.) When foam from butter recedes, remove from heat, add flour, and mix well. Return to medium-low heat, and, stirring occasionally, simmer for 2 to 3 minutes to cook, but not brown, the flour. Gradually stir in hot milk. Raise heat to medium-high and continue stirring until mixture is smooth and thick (about 5 minutes). Add Parmesan and Romano cheeses. Whisk until smooth. Add Tabasco and white pepper and blend.
• Cook rigatoni in boiling salted water about 4 minutes. (It will be underdone, but will finish cooking later.) Thoroughly drain rigatoni and fold it into the cheese mixture.
• If cooking immediately, preheat oven to 375 degrees.
• Layer one-half the rigatoni mixture into a 9x13 pan. Top with one-half of the Cheddar and mozzarella. Repeat layers. Top with chili powder, sprinkled evenly over top.
• If not baking immediately, cover tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate or freeze. When ready to bake, drizzle the 3/4 cup milk over the dish. Bake for approximately one hour. If frozen, add at least 20 minutes to baking time. The dish should be rusty brown on top. Should it appear to be browning too fast, cover with foil for part of cooking time. Be sure to check for doneness in the very center of the dish.

ALL-AMERICAN MAC & CHEESE

Steps:

• Spray large saucepan with non-stick spray. Melt butter in saucepan on medium heat. When butter is about halfway melted, slice and add cream cheese.
• When cream cheese is about halfway melted, slice and add Velveeta. When Velveeta Cheese begins to melt, add 1 cup milk and stir well. Add parmesan cheese and then add other 1 cup milk. Continue cooking until cheese sauce is well-blended
• While making cheese sauce, cook macaroni with salted water according to package directions but reduce cooking time by 25% so macaroni is just done (still firm). Drain and rinse macaroni. Toss macaroni in large bowl with cheese sauce (and ham).
• Spray 9x12 pan with non-stick spray. Pour half of mixture into pan and cover with half of grated cheese. Pour remaining half into pan and cover with remaining grated cheese.
• Bake covered with non-stick foil at 350 degrees F for 30 minutes. Uncover and continue baking until bubbly. You can prepare dish unbaked the day before and refrigerate. In this case, increase baking time to 45-60 minutes.