Homemade Mac & Cheese

Jake and I both love macaroni and cheese. There’s something comfortable about cheesy, creamy pasta, and it fits in with my down-home style cooking really well.

In the past, I’ve attempted homemade crockpot mac and cheese but it didn’t turn out the way I’d hoped. So when I had a hankering recently, I made my own stovetop and oven baked dish that turned out a lot better! Jake asked me to make it more often, so I figured that means it’s blog-worthy.

Here’s what you’ll need:

• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
• 2 cups of elbow noodles
• 1 cup of half and half
• 1/4 cup of flour
• Salt + pepper

EDIT: When I first published this, I used 4 cups of elbow noodles. I’ve cut that down to 2 cups. It makes a smaller dish, but a significantly creamier, cheesier dish!

Preheat your oven to 400F.

First, boil your noodles on the stovetop. They should be al dente when you pull them off, drain, and rinse them.

As those sit and finish draining, get out a saucepan and put it on the stovetop on medium heat. Add in your butter and let it melt. When it’s a yellow pool instead of a chunk of stick butter, add in 1 cup of your cheddar cheese (just 1 not both!), all of your half and half, and all of your flour. Whisk it continually over heat until it becomes a blended, sticky concoction. Take it off of the heat.

Now, in a mixing bowl, scoop in half of your cooked noodles and half of your sticky dairy mixture. Add a dash of salt and a dash of pepper and stir until well mixed. Then, pour the mixed pasta it into a baking dish (I used a square oven-proof Pyrex).

Sprinkle a little cheese (about 1/3 of the remaining cup) on top. Repeat this same process again and layer on top again. This time, use all remaining cheese and sprinkle on more pepper to your liking.

Bake in the oven for 17 minutes. When you pull it out, the top cheese should be crisping a little.

Scoop out your portion (or two – no judgement here!), and enjoy!

Note: next time, I think I’ll use a little extra half and half to make it even creamier. Adjust to your preferences, as always.

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