Coming from the mouth of a lactose intolerant kid….I LOVE mac and cheese! I could not make this frickin’ meal for years! I don’t know, it just always escaped me how to get it just right! My older sister was a whiz at it and I devoured hers. Well after A LOT of practice and tweaking of the ingredients I’ve finally got it down where I can share it with you! I personally don’t like elbow macaroni noodles. They look funny to me. I like using shell pasta so my cheese gets “captured” into each noodle. I still rep the Weight Watcher’s shredded cheese! And we are going to make a cheese sauce! (Something about the word “cheese sauce” just sounds glorious to me.) Ok, let’s get started!
Ingredients: (This recipe is when you are making it for a large group of people. Feel free to cut down on the sizes of all ingredients if just making it for a smaller meal. This recipe typically makes two pans worth of mac and cheese.)
1-2 boxes of shell macaroni
5-6 tablespoons of butter
5-6 tablespoons of flour
24 oz. Evaporated milk [try the Fat Free] – This is just (2) 12 oz. cans!
Coarse sea salt
Thyme
Italian Seasoning
CHEESE!!!! (I use about 2 pounds if making this for the holidays! which would be about 12 people)
Instructions:
1. We have to start boiling our noodles. While boiling, spray a large casserole dish with Pam.
2. You’ll also need a large skillet or wok to make the cheese sauce. I make it in layers so there will be some repeating in some of the following steps.
3. Once the noodles are done, drain in a colander and rinse with cold water to keep the noodles firm. Also, set your oven for 350 degrees.
4. Now for the cheese sauce! In your large skillet, melt 1 tablespoon of butter. Once melted, place 1 tablespoon of flour and 4 tablespoons of evaporated milk and whisk together. Sprinkle about 1/4 cup of cheese and whisk again.
5. Place about 2 large spoonfuls (serving spoon size) of noodles into the cheese sauce. Season with a small amount of Sea salt, Thyme and Italian seasoning and stir together. Pour this layer into the casserole dish and sprinkle with a nice helping of cheese on top.
6. Repeat steps 4 and 5 until all of your noodles have been used. You should only use 1 can of evaporated milk for these steps above. I also like to spray the skillet with Pam between each layer because after a while the butter doesn’t prevent sticking as well. In order to finish these steps, I typically repeat about 5-6 times.
7. Once you’ve finished all the layers and you sprinkled cheese on top, pour the 2nd can of evaporated milk all over. I also like to sprinkle a little more Italian seasoning on top. Bake uncovered for about 20-30 minutes.