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Master Mold-able Mac and Cheese

By August 6, 2024

I actually don't care for mac and cheese. At all. I think it's a waste of stomach space.

But everyone else in the house seems to like it. Like a nimrod -- a skillful hunter, not an inept person -- I combed the internet for a recipe that sounded like something I would eat. I was a sentinel, steadfastly alert, for a recipe that I could adapt for variations like Langoustine Mac and Cheese or Buffalo Chicken Mac and Cheese or Pulled Pork Mac and Cheese. You might say that I wanted a moldable recipe ... a MASTER MOLDable recipe! This recipe would be a bastion to all other side items, fortifying the deliciousness of grilled meats and the like. 

With my memory of my friend Missie's mac and cheese, along side the power of the internet, this is where I landed.

 

Ingredients

Instructions

  1. Preheat your darned oven to 350 degrees F.
  2. Spray a 9x13 glass baking thingie with cray cray spray spray.
  3. Shred the cheese, all of it. 
  4. Get shredded while shredding the cheese.
  5. Add butter, milk, chicken stock, and spices to a big pot.
  6. Stir and whisk on medium heat until smooth and simmered.
  7. Add the box of pasta, sans box, to the pot and cook 10-12 minutes, until a substantial portion of the liquid has been absorbed by the pasta.
  8. Turn heat to low and stir in 66% of the shredded cheeses until creamy and dreamy.
  9. If you prepared a cooked meat -- like langoustine, buffalo chicken, or pulled pork -- fold that in.
  10. Top with remaining cheese.
  11. Transfer to the baking thingie and bake for 10-15 minutes, until the top layer of cheese starts to brown.

Notes:

  • This recipe is easy enough that my kids can make it.
  • It refrigerates and reheats well for leftovers.
  • Barilla's gluten free elbows work great in this recipe.
  • Use quality block cheese (like Cabot) and shred it yourself. The consistency is better.
  • Use more, less, or no meat.
  • Breadcrumb toppings are gross.
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