The Ultimate Creamy Macaroni and Cheese
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There is always room for one more mac & cheese recipe. This newly created version with the addition of ricotta cheese puts a whole new spin on this traditional comfort food. Is this recipe too large for your family? Remember, Mac & Cheese is terrific frozen in serving size portions for use later. Created for RSC 16, and was awarded First Place. My thanks to everyone that reviewed the recipe.
- Ready In:
- 1hr 5mins
- Serves:
- Units:
Nutrition Information
16
People talking
ingredients
- 1⁄2 tablespoon butter
- 1 1⁄2 cups sweet onions, chopped
- 3 liters water, boiling
- 1 tablespoon salt
- 4 cups cavatappi pasta, uncooked
- 1 cup half-and-half cream
- 1 cup low-fat milk
- 1⁄4 cup butter
- 1 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
- 1⁄4 cup flour
- 1⁄2 teaspoon hot chili sauce, to start
- 1 cup part-skim ricotta cheese
- 2 cups old cheddar cheese, shredded
- 1 teaspoon salt (optional)
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Topping
- 1 tablespoon butter, melted
- 1⁄2 cup corn, flake crumbs
- 1⁄4 cup old cheddar cheese, shredded
directions
- Saute onions, on low heat, in 1 tbsp of butter until just tender, but not brown. Set aside.
- In a large pot, add 1 tbsp salt to the boiling water, and cook pasta until al denta. Drain, but do not rinse.
- While the pasta is cooking, prepare the sauce.
- In a microwave safe measuring cup, mix the half and half with the milk, and heat for 2 minutes on high, in the microwave. Let sit in the microwave until ready to use. (This step is not crucial, but the sauce will thicken faster when using warmed milk.).
- Preheat oven to 350*. Spray a large casserole dish with cooking spray and set aside.
- In a medium sized saucepan, using medium heat, melt 1/4 cup of butter along with the black pepper. Once bubbling, sprinkle with 1/4 cup of flour. Allow a few moments for the fat to absorb the flour, then stir to combine. Carefully stir the warmed cream/milk into the butter/flour mixture and cook until thickened. This generally takes about 10 minutes on my stove.
- Remove from heat, and stir in the onions, hot chili sauce, ricotta cheese, and the 2 cups of shredded cheddar. Stir until the cheddar has melted. Taste, and add the optional salt if needed. Depending on your taste, you may also opt to increase the amount of hot chili sauce as well.
- Pour the sauce over the drained pasta and gently stir. Pour into the prepared casserole dish.
- Mix together 1 tbsp melted butter with the corn flake crumbs. Sprinkle over the pasta and top with the 1/4 cup shredded cheddar.
- Bake for 35 minutes or until the sauce is bubbling.
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RECIPE MADE WITH LOVE BY
@Diana 2
Contributor
@Diana 2
Contributor
"There is always room for one more mac & cheese recipe. This newly created version with the addition of ricotta cheese puts a whole new spin on this traditional comfort food. Is this recipe too large for your family? Remember, Mac & Cheese is terrific frozen in serving size portions for use later. Created for RSC 16, and was awarded First Place. My thanks to everyone that reviewed the recipe."
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Too thick. Too flavorless. Nasty. Hot Sauce does not belong in Mac and cheese. Wish I could give it 0 Stars. Wish I could get my time back. Took. Too. Long. Disappointed my family. Strongly recommend to not make this recipe...!
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I tweaked a wee bit, added a 1/4 cup mozzarella and used a black pepper turmeric blend, then used Panko for the topping As well used just straight 3.5% homo milk - was DELICIOUS!!
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I followed this recipe except I did not add onions or hot sauce. Also, I used Panko crumbs instead of cornflakes. This dish had a very good flavor but mine turned out a little drier than I like. It wasn't completely dry but had a thick, glue-like consistency. I like my macaroni to be almost like a thick liquid in its creaminess. Next time, perhaps I will add more milk and half and half and maybe even a little more butter for a more liquid consistency to add to the cooked macaroni. I loved the cheesy and crunchy topping. I think next time I will add just a little more cheddar cheese on top. Overall, very tasty and enjoyable!
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This was the best mac & cheese I think I've ever had, of course I made some tweaks though. Instead of onions and chili sauce, I added 8 crispy slices of bacon, cut into small pieces, and 2 cubed avocados, and stirred these into the cheese sauce before baking. I also skipped the "topping" and just added a thin layer of the cheese (used cheddar jack rather than just cheddar). The butter and corn flakes were not missed at all. For baking, I also had a bit of a time crunch so I upped the heat to 385 for about 25 minutes. THIS WAS PERFECTION. Saving this one for later, in fact, I'll probably make it again later this week for yet another work holiday potluck, so DELICIOUS!
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This was the best mac & cheese I think I've ever had, of course I made some tweaks though. Instead of onions and chili sauce, I added 8 crispy slices of bacon, cut into small pieces, and 2 cubed avocados, and stirred these into the cheese sauce before baking. I also skipped the "topping" and just added a thin layer of the cheese (used cheddar jack rather than just cheddar). The butter and corn flakes were not missed at all. For baking, I also had a bit of a time crunch so I upped the heat to 385 for about 25 minutes. THIS WAS PERFECTION. Saving this one for later, in fact, I'll probably make it again later this week for yet another work holiday potluck, so DELICIOUS!
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