Macaroni and Cheese for Grownups

Submitted by Tinalovespasta

"This is a sophisticated version for those who appreciate the cheesy goodness without the processed powdered cheese flavor. You can use macaroni or another small pasta like shells or spirals."

 

• Ready In: 55mins
• Ingredients: 14
• Serves: 4

ingredients

• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1⁄2 yellow onion, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
• 2 tablespoons flour
• 2 cups 2% low-fat milk
• 1 teaspoon white wine vinegar
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt (or to taste)
• 1⁄2 teaspoon fresh ground pepper or 1/2 teaspoon white pepper (or to taste)
• 1⁄4 teaspoon Tabasco sauce (or to taste)
• 1⁄4 cup pepperoncini peppers or 1/4 cup pickled jalapeno pepper, diced (or to taste)
• 3 cups assorted cheese, shredded or crumbled
• 2 cups elbow macaroni, cooked al dente
• 1 cup seasoned dry bread crumb
• 1⁄2 cup grated fresh parmesan cheese

directions

1. Melt the butter in a heavy skillet.
2. Add the onion and saute on medium heat until softened and mostly cooked-about 10 minutes.
3. Add the garlic and cook for one more minute-be careful not to brown the garlic.
4. Whisk the flour in.
5. Cook while stirring for three minutes.
6. Uncooked flour tastes bad!
7. Whisk in the milk.
8. Continue to stir until the mixture barely begins to boil.
9. It should be a little bubbly and beginning to thicken.
10. Add the vinegar while whisking-if the milk is hot it won't curdle and the vinegar brightens up the sauce.
11. Add salt and pepper to taste.
12. If you don't want black flecks use white pepper instead.
13. Add a dash of Tobasco.
14. Taste then add more if you like.
15. Stir in the pepperoncinis or jalapenos.
16. You need to experiment-make this a few times and decide exactly how much of which pepper you like.
17. Stir in your favorite cheeses.
18. I like to combine sharp cheddar with a little crumbled bleu.
19. Swiss is good for flavor but not texture so blend with something creamy like Fontina.
20. Monterey Jack is very creamy but without a lot of flavor so add something sharp and flavorful.
21. Pour the macaroni into a large baking pan.
22. Pour the sauce over and gently mix.
23. Sprinkle the parmesan and bread crumbs on top.
24. Bake at 350 degrees until browned on top-about 25 minutes or so.
25. Let sit for 10 minutes then serve.
26. You may never even consider boxed mac-n-cheese again.

Reviews

[Mrs. Moon]

What a great recipe! I used a bunch of little cheese pieces up. I also used up a bunch of pasta that had just a little bit left. It did have way too many breadcrumbs on top, but that is easily fixed. Very yummy, and different every time. Thanks for sharing!

 

[j.a.c.k.]

Thanks for a great mac and cheese recipe, lots of flavour. The only thing different I did was to place slices of salami on top of the mac before I put the parmesan and breadcrumbs on.

 

[ellie_]

We loved this recipe which I picked to use up lots of bits and pieces of cheese. I ended up using mostly Monterey Jack and smoked mozzarella cheese for scrumptous mac n' cheese. I must admit that we left out the onion, garlic, tabasco and pickled peppers though. A really great change from our traditional. Thanks for sharing this keeper!

 

[anne in apex]

I added this recipe to my cookbook quite a while ago, so tonight when DH said he wanted M&C, this was the perfect recipe. It looked complicated at first, but it really isn't. I made it almost exactly to the recipe. The only substitution I made was the bread crumbs. I didn't have any, but I had a little bit of dried herbed stuffing, so I crushed it fine and used it instead. For the cheese I used one cup of medium sharp cheddar and two cups of pepper jack. Combined with the jalapenos, it had a pretty good kick. I was able to make it in a 8x10 pyrex pan that fits in my toaster oven. I kept an eye on it and only baked for about 15 minutes. I will look forward to making this again, and maybe playing with the combinations of cheeses.