What better comfort food is there than nice, creamy, rich mac & cheese?

With a little time (20-30 min.) & patience, you can make this easy mac & cheese that will impress the pants off all of your friends.

Step 1: Ingredients

12 oz. Velveeta cheese (You can use other cheese if you like, but this works best for the traditional taste)
4 Tbsp. butter/margarine
5 Tbsp. all-purpose flour
3 c. milk (I prefer 2%, but 1% and whole milk work also. I haven't tried skim milk)
Dash of salt & pepper
2/3 box of pasta - Penne and farfalle (bow tie) noodles work best (Rozoni Garden Delight is my favorite, but I also really like to use whole wheat pasta.)

Step 2: Cook Your Noodles

Cook your noodles following the directions on the box. Once you add the hot cheese sauce to them later, they will cook a tad more, so be careful not to over-cook.

I like al dente noodles, so I cook them slightly less.

Step 3: Prep the Cheese

Chop your cheese into small chunks. The smaller they are, the better/faster they will melt.

Step 4: Make Your Roux

Melt your butter over low heat. Then mix the flour into the melted butter. It will make a sort of thick paste. Go ahead and turn the heat up to medium once you have them thoroughly mixed.

Next, slowly add the milk, making sure to combine it with the butter/flour mixture before adding more. Try not to add more than about 1/4 c. at a time, stirring constantly.

Make sure not to stop stirring once the milk is added. It can scorch to the bottom very quickly.

Once all of the milk is added, turn the heat up to medium-high. The heat will help the sauce to thicken up.

Step 5: Add the Cheese

Once your sauce has thicken to a nice smooth texture, add your cheese chunks. Go ahead and add salt & pepper to taste at this point.
Make sure to continue stirring as the cheese melts.

Step 6: Combine the Noodles & Sauce

Dump your cooked noodles into a large bowl or casserole dish. Then pour your cheese sauce over the pasta & stir a little so that all of the noodles get a taste of all of the delicious cheese sauce.

Step 7: Leftovers

If by some chance you have leftovers, this mac & cheese keeps really well. Just put a top on your casserole dish or plastic wrap over the top of your bowl & put it in the fridge.

To reheat, just spoon what you want into a smaller bowl, pop it in the microwave for 30-45 seconds, stir it up, and then heat it to your desired temperature.