====== Baked Mac and Cheese ====== 

Tags: [[dinner]] - [[pasta]] - [[vegetarian]] - [[side]]\\ 
Active Time: 45 minutes\\ 
Passive Time: 30 minutes \\ 
Serves: 6-12\\

====Description====
Extremely cheesy mac and cheese with breadcrumb topping

====Source====
[[https://archive.nytimes.com/dinersjournal.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/01/29/addictive-mac-and-cheese/|NY Times]]

====Ingredients====
  *Sharp cheddar cheese: 16 oz, shredded
  *Gruyere cheese: 8 oz, shredded\\ \\ 
  *Whole milk: 5.5 cups\\ \\ 
  *All purpose flour: 1/2 cup
  *Unsalted butter: 6 tbsp\\ \\ 
  *Nutmeg: 1/4 tsp, ground
  *Red chili powder: 1/4 tsp
  *Black pepper: 1/4 tsp
  *Kosher salt: 1 tbsp\\ \\ 
  *Elbow pasta: 1 lb \\ \\ 
  *Breadcrumb topping - see Notes

====Notes====
  *For best results, add your topping of choice: Ritz crackers, panko bread crumbs, and/or 6 slices white bread broken into small squares tossed with 2 tbsp melted butter. I typically use both the white bread and the Ritz crackers

====Instructions====
  -Preheat oven to 375F
  -Butter a 3 quart casserole dish
  -Warm milk over medium heat. In a separate large stock pot, melt butter until bubbling, then add flour and cook, stirring for 1 minute. Add warm milk to stock pot slowly.
  -Whisk mixture constantly until it thickens and starts to bubble
  -Remove pot from heat, add 300 g (~3 cups) cheddar and 170 g (~1.5 cups) gruyere. Add nutmeg, black pepper, red pepper, and salt; whisk until smooth
  -Cook macaroni a bit less than al-dente. Mix together with cheese sauce and pour mixture into casserole
  -Sprinkle remaining cheese and optional topping over casserole. Bake for ~30 minutes

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