Macaroni and Cheese

Mac and Cheese! So many options: Kraft with powdery cheese, Velveeta with squeeze cheese, Annie's, and homemade, to name a few! This recipe comes from one of my college roommates and was part of our usual dinner rotation. There are three things to be done simultaneously: cook the pasta, make the sauce, and grate the cheese.

1. Cook 1 lb. of pasta. And it is best if it is al dente, as it will cook a bit more as it bakes.

2. Make a bechamel sauce (see below).

3. Grate about 3/4 lb. of asiago cheese and mix in 4 oz. of parmesan cheese.

Pre-heat the oven to 350. In a buttered casserole dish, layer 1/3 of the pasta, 1/3 of the cheese, and 1/3 of the sauce. Add a few grinds of pepper. Repeat. Top with buttered bread crumbs. The recipe calls for 1C of buttered bread crumbs but depending on the surface area in your casserole this can be quite a thick layer of crumbs. I would start with about 1/2C and see if it looks appealing. The more butter you melt and mix with the crumbs the more browning will result, which is the delicious part.

Bake uncovered for 20 minutes at 350. If you want to make this in advance and refrigerate it, you can bake it for 20 minutes covered and then 20 minutes uncovered.

To make the sauce: Melt 4T butter over medium heat. Cook about 1/2 an onion, diced, until soft. Add 4T flour. Stir this frequently and cook 3-5 minutes. Add 3C hot milk, slowly, whisking constantly to avoid lumps. Add 1 bay leaf, 1/4t thyme, 1/8t nutmeg, and black pepper. Over medium-high heat bring the sauce to a gentle boil, stirring frequently, until the sauce thickens. You can strain out the onions, but I never bother, I just remove the bay leaf.