Fried Macaroni and Cheese Balls

Lainey6605's Note:

This is a recipe from Paula Deen's magazine. Plan ahead, you will need to refrigerate the cheese sauce for 8 hours and the balls freeze for 2 hours. The chilling and freezing time is included in the prep time listed.

• Total Time: 10 hrs 35 mins
• Prep Time: 35 mins
• Cook Time: 10 hrs

Ingredients:

Serves: 66

Yield: 5.5 dozen

• 4 quarts water
• 1 teaspoon salt, divided
• 2 cups uncooked elbow macaroni
• 1/2 cup milk
• 3 tablespoons milk
• 1 (12 ounce) package cheese spread, cubed
• 1 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 4 large eggs
• 2 cups Italian seasoned breadcrumbs
• 1/2 cup yellow cornmeal
• peanut oil, for frying

Directions:

1. Lightly grease a 13x9-inch baking dish. In large saucepan, bring water and 1/2 t salt to a boil over high heat. Add pasta, and cook 6-8 minutes, or until tender; drain well.
2. In a large bowl, combine hot cooked pasta, 1/2 cup milk, cheese spread, mozzarella cheese, 1/2 teaspoon salt and pepper; stir until cheeses are melted. Spoon into prepared baking dish; cover, and refrigerate 8 hours.
3. Roll macaroni and cheese into 1-inch balls; place on a baking sheet, and freeze 2 hours.
4. In a small bowl, whisk together eggs and remaining milk.
5. In a separate small bowl, combine breadcrumbs and cornmeal.
6. Dip balls into egg mixture, then dredge in breadcrumb mixture.
7. In a large Dutch oven, pour oil to a depth of 2 inches; heat to 350 degrees over medium heat.
8. Fry macaroni and cheese balls in batches, 3-4 minutes, or until golden brown. Drain on paper towels.

Reviews

[Sydney Mike]

Made these to share at a park social we have each week, & although the group is small, there was a huge dent made in the bowl of balls I took! AN UNUSUAL & NICE TASTING FINGER FOOD, & I'm happy to keep your recipe on file for much future use! Thanks for sharing! I look forward to trying these with a variety of dips! [Tagged, made & reviewed in Gimme 5 tag]

[Karen Elizabeth]

Very very yummy! I used cappalletti, which I thought might make it easier to shape balls in the end. I made this recipe in stages, I made the macaroni and cheese and refrigerated it, next day I formed the balls and froze them. And there they stayed for a couple of weeks until I was ready to use them, for a Mothers day picnic. Made on the Saturday afternoon, half of them didnt make it until Sunday! We agreed with a previous reviewer that these are especially nice with a dip, the children favoured mayo, but sweet chilli sauce and spicy mango sauce were also popular! I was glad that I made these, and would make them again for friends. Thanks, Lainey!

[2Bleu]

This recipe was recommened by Chef #719313. I used leftover Yummiest Ever Baked Mac and Cheese and followed the rest of this recipe as directed. This is quite a unique and novel recipe that was lots of fun to make. When asked "How do they taste?" all 4 replies were "It tastes like fried macaroni & cheese". Buddha felt it could have some sort of ketchup based sauce to kick it up a bit. I agree about a sauce, but not ketchup based. For me? Maybe some ranch dressing, or bleu cheese. Overall, great recipe. Thanks for sharing. :)