Macaroni and Cheese With Egg Noodles and Cream

Not diet food. So rich. So creamy. Decadent. Make it. Enjoy it. I've made this 3 times now and my family just loves it. I made it to serve at the big family Christmas, too. Not your traditional orange "Mac and Cheese". From "Everyday Italian" show on Food Network. The original recipe claims 8 servings, but we get more like 8 from a 3/4 recipe. I would say it does 12 servings. It is very rich.

• Ready In: 50 mins
• Serves: 12

Ingredients

•  butter, for greasing dish
• 12  ounces  wide egg noodles
• 2  cups heavy cream (no substitutions. This is a rich dish. Go with it. Don't try to slim it down.)
• 2 1⁄2 cups  whole milk (No substitutions)
• 2  tablespoons all-purpose flour (original recipe said 2 tsp, but I have used tbsp to get this to set up and thicken)
• 1⁄2 teaspoon salt, plus more for pasta water
• 1⁄4 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
• 2  cups  grated Fontina cheese, packed
• 3⁄4 cup  finely grated parmesan cheese, packed
• 3⁄4 cup  grated mozzarella cheese, packed
• 4  ounces cooked ham, finely diced (optional)
• 2  tablespoons  finely chopped fresh Italian parsley

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
2. Butter a 13 by 9 inch baking dish.
3. Cook noodles in a large pot of boiling salted water until tender, but still firm to bit, stirring frequently. About 5 minutes. Drain well, but do not rinse.
4. Whisk the cream, milk, flour 1/2 tsp salt and pepper in a large bowl to blend.
5. Stir in PART of the cheese only to the milk/cream mixture. 1 cup Fontina. 1/2 cup parmesan. 1/2 cup mozzarella. Also stir in ham, if using, and parsley. Add the noodles and toss to coat.
6. Transfer noodle mixture to the prepared baking dish.
7. In a small bowl combine all the remaining cheeses and toss to blend. Sprinkle the combined cheeses over the noodle mixture.
8. Bake until the sauce bubbles and the cheese melts and begins to brown and get a bit crispy on top, about 20 minutes.
9. Remove from oven and let stand 10 minutes before serving.