One Pan – Macaroni and Cheese

Over the past week I have been cleaning out my pantry trying to cook everything that I could without going to the grocery store. Needless to say, I was running low on everything. Then I noticed that I had a bag of mozzarella cheese in the fridge and about a 1/2 cup of milk. Sounds like Macaroni and Cheese to me.

So creamy and delicious. Makes you wonder why you ever buy the box stuff.

This recipe is quick and easy. Only took about 10 minutes to make, not counting the 5 minutes to heat up the water. Heating up water isn’t really cooking and thus does not count towards cooking time.

One Pan Macaroni and Cheese

2 cups pasta – preferably macaroni, rotini, farfalle or fusilli
1 cup shredded cheese – preferably low moisture cheese (cheddar or even mozzarella)
2 tbs butter
2 tbs flour
1/2 cup milk
1/2 tbs hot sauce
Salt and Pepper

The first step is to boil the pasta. Make sure to cook it so that it is al dente otherwise known as a bit chewy. The noodles will finish cooking in the cheese sauce. Plus, if you over cook the noodles the pasta will fall apart when you mix it.

After you drain the pasta into a strainer, place the pot back on the stove over medium heat. Add the butter and let it melt.

Mmm, wish I had some crab legs right now.

Once the butter is almost all melted, add the flour. Make sure to stir the mixture constantly. You want the butter and flour to start to brown to make a light roux.

A whisk is the perfect instrument to make sure that the flour gets incorporated with the butter.

After about two minutes the butter and flour should have turned a light golden brown color. At this point it is time to add the hot sauce. This step is optional if you do not like spicy stuff. However, at my house it is necessary.

Not necessary at your house, but at mine it is.

Then add the milk, salt and pepper. Make sure to keep on stirring. Once the mixture starts to boil, it will start to thicken up. At this point it is time to remove it from the stovetop.

Baked Sweet Potatoes

You want to be able to move the whisk through the sauce and be able to see the bottom of the pan for 3 seconds.

Remove the sauce from the heat and add the noodles to the pan. Gently fold the noodles into the sauce.

Try to be gentle as you don't want the noodles to turn to mush.

Now add the cheese to the pot. Gently stir the mixture until all of the cheese has melted and is covering the noodles. If you like cheese, you can add more than the cup that is necessary. Actually you can add up to 2 full cups of cheese. Some would call it excessive, I would call it Wednesday.

I used mozzarella as that was all I had, I really like to make this with sharp cheddar.

Now it is done. 10 minutes that is it. Only about a minute longer than making the box stuff. Look at how awesome this macaroni and cheese looks.

One pan, 10 minutes and pure awesomeness.

Look at how creamy and cheesy this is.

This is probably my favorite meal that I make. Usually, because I usually only make at 2am after the bar. But, it is also because it is comforting and extremely tasty.

Tips – If you like your Mac and Cheese to be a little thinner. Add a 1/4 cup more milk. If you like it a bit thicker add another 2tsp of butter and flour at the beginning. It will thicken up nicely.