Macaroni and Cheese

Amazing mac and cheese recipe with 5:1 cheese to pasta ratio - it's the ultimate tour of Italian greatness in America!

This is one of my favorite pasta dishes, prepared with gouda, cream, ricotta, monterrey jack and fontina cheeses, then garnished with a touch of parsley.

Sure, the stuff from the box gets the job done, but it's not the same. Sometimes you've got to go to the source and make it from scratch, and with ingredients from just two main food groups, dairy and starch, what's holding you back?

This recipe is equally appropriate for a cold night watching a movie at home, or on the table at a pot luck. Wherever it's eaten, it's always impressed people and kept them coming back for more.

Step 1 Ingredients

The Cheeses:
3oz Cream
6oz Ricotta
8oz Monterey Jack
12oz Smoked Gouda (divided) (you can use regular if you like)
12oz Fontina (divided)

The Rest:
16oz (1 lb) elbow macaroni
2tbs Butter
2 cans Fat Free Evaporated Skim Milk

Not Pictured:
Salt and Pepper
Parsley

Tools
Pot large enough to fit all ingredients
9x13 baking dish
Colander

Comments

[THE_GEEK2007]

The only thing that would make this better is adding some fish (i.e smoked salmon)

[craig3]

what about bacon?

[THE_GEEK2007]

that too....

[kuriinaa]

0___0  i havnt made it yet but just by looking at it . im Grabbing some  Antacid  .. i will enjoy this

[unbentcrayfish]

nice, it tastes reall goody

[pledgeissex]

I made it this weekend and it was VERY delicious the first night. unfortunately once you refrigerate and reheat it loses alot of the initial flair so I ended up pouring some delicious vodka sauce over top and it lasted a few days more! Thanks!

[StumpChunkman]

hahahahaha. I tend to re-bake leftovers to warm them up (not sure if you were microwaving). I'm not sure I ever noticed them tasting bad afterwards, though to be fair, I always enjoy mac and cheese (even when it's not as up to par as I might hope). I like your solution though! If alcohol didn't play badly with my system, I'd try this with some cold mac currently sitting in my fridge. Thanks!

[mgroodt]

Here at home (South Africa) we always add a layer of sliced tomatoes under the cheese layer before it goes in the oven. My kids don't like tomato so I do half fresh tomatoes and half crushed tomato chips (that's crisps for those who don't live in SA) Yum!

[StumpChunkman]

That actually sounds really tasty...I may have to try that my next time round.

[Tampaguy]

I'm sure 'skin' milk is really "SKIM MILK". Right?

[StumpChunkman]

*sighs* I really need to stop doing that...

...thank you, fixed!

[static]

That's similar to how macaroni and cheese has always been made. For a long time Velveeta was the only choice of affordable cheese in super markets around here, so that's what was used. Nowadays I think it may be the most expensive. I haven't ate it in years, growing up and now liking cheeses with more bite to them. Good instructable. I may have to consider making real mac and cheese for the Christmas pot luck on the first Monday in December.

[Densetsu]

My girlfriend has a similar recipe. Add a little dry mustard to the salt, pepper and parsley, and try baking some grated parmesan cheese mixed with panko (Japanese bread crumbs) onto the top of the mac and cheese for a nice crust.

[canida]

The parsley makes it healthy. Because it's green, you know. ;)

[StumpChunkman]

Yeah, I'll do melt some butter on the stove, and mix in some bread crumbs to get them golden brown for a crust on occasion, but for whatever reason, I really felt like eating lots of cheese. I may have to try the dry mustard though, I don't think I've had mac that way before. Thanks!

[necromncr]

Oh dear god. I just finished with TaeBo workout and I'm hungry as hell. And I like both main components! I gotta try this!

[canida]

Having tried this mac n cheese, I can unfortunately attest you'll need several more TaeBo workouts to balance out even a small serving. It's excellently cheesy.

[GorillazMiko]

That looks really good, but I know I don't have all the ingredients. What is an approximate price all of the ingredients will cost? +5/5 stars.

[StumpChunkman]

Sadly that really depends on your location, the store you shop at and a lot of other things. I think I ended up spending about thirty dollars. But when you consider that it can feed at least six people on its own, that's not too expensive. With the rest of the food that was served with it, it fed twelve people with enough left over for most everyone to have some for lunch the following day.

[canida]

That's because you got some expensive yuppie cheese! You could easily do it for much less $$$.

[jessandstavro]

Ohhh, I'm drooling. This looks so good!

[I_am_Canadian]

This could lead to some comstipation, if you know what I mean.

[lil_brown_bat]

I don't think the idea is to eat it all at one sitting and eat nothing else all day.

[guitarman63mm]

Can't say I do. CoMstipation?

[I_am_Canadian]

Oops. Constipation.

[tercero]

Wow. Looks good. I wouldn't eat it because of the fat and cholesterol content but I bet it's delicious.

[StumpChunkman]

Yeah, that's why I only make this once or twice a year. It's one of those special treats that I can only eat on occasion.

[srhadaham]

That is a lot of cheese