Creamy White Macaroni & Cheese

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On Master Chef this guy made mac and cheese with a crust on top, which I've never had but thought it sounded good. It just so happened that one of my books had a recipe for this so I had to try it! I wasn't paying attention and bought regular cheddar instead of white cheddar, so I'd like to try it again with white. As well as I found a recipe that used potato chips instead of crackers for the crust, so that sounds good for the next time around.
Josh really liked this, and I thought it tasted like a grilled cheese sandwich, and turned out really creamy:)

Creamy White Mac & Cheese

For the topping-
1/2 stick butter (4 T)
1 sleeve saltine crackers, crushed

For the macaroni & cheese-
1/2 lb dry elbow macaroni
1 cup pasta water
2 T butter
2 T all-purpose flour
3/4 c whole milk
3/4 c heavy cream
Pinch of nutmeg
2 c white cheddar, shredded
4 oz. cream cheese

Preheat oven to 400 degrees; rub inside of four 8 oz baking dishes (or one 2 qt. baking dish) with softened butter. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil for pasta.

Melt 1/2 stick butter for the topping in a nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add crackers and cook until lightly browned, 5 minutes. Season with salt; remove from heat and set aside.

Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain, reserving 1 cup pasta water; set pasta aside.

Melt 2 T. butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Whisk in flour, cook 1 minute, then gradually whisk in milk, cream, and nutmeg. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly, then add cheeses, stirring until melted. If sauce seems too thick, add reserved pasta as needed. Toss sauce with pasta.

Coat buttered dishes with a dusting for the crumb topping, then divide macaroni mixture among them; if using separate dishes. Top macaroni mixture with remaining crumbs and bake 20 minutes.

Bon Appetite!

Comments

  1. Josh.Meagan.Abigail9/16/2010

    After having this a day later, I've decided I would do a couple things different:

    1. Make extra sauce to pour on when heating up for 'seconds'.
    2. Add less crumbs. (And I've already mentioned I'd like to try a different crumb topping)

    ReplyDelete
  2. jeff and alli9/17/2010

    Jeff always adds some topping when he makes mac & cheese, and it is yummy. I also love when he adds slices of tomatoes towards the end of baking.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Grandad and Grandma B.9/19/2010

    This sounds very good. I'll have to try it. But, what crumb topping will you try next time?
    Mom

    ReplyDelete
  4. jeff and alli9/20/2010

    Sometimes we do bread crumbs, sometimes add some butter & parmesan cheese to the bread crumbs & use that, cornflakes are easy and have a good crunch, wheat germ is soft and healthy....so many options.

    ReplyDelete
  5. jeff and alli2/13/2011

    K, I tried this, with the white cheddar, and I'll be honest, I didn't notice a big taste difference between the white and yellow.

    I thought this was good, but really rich, so a little bit went a long way. I think you could take out the cream cheese and be just fine.

    ReplyDelete

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