I want to preface this post by saying I had a bit of a creative block last week. I felt completely exhausted and was convinced I had Covid 19. (Does this happen to anyone else?) Luckily, I was able to have two tests both of which came back negative and hearing this news along with eating a giant bowl of macaroni and cheese pulled me back to life.
This is such a strange time for all of us right now and coping is something we all do a bit differently. I myself am no stranger to anxiety and every time I feel the slightest tickle in my throat or get winded during my morning run I convince myself I’ve got the virus.
Why am I am talking about this in my post for macaroni and cheese? Because it’s not a food I usually allow myself to eat but so many folks absolutely adore it for the holidays. It’s such a home run kid food and what I would call classic comfort food.
It just felt like being run down and tired, anxious about the state of the world and specifically our hotly contested election this year, I deserved some comfort food. So I made this absolutely delicious macaroni, covered in creamy cheese sauce and topped with the crispiest cheese and bread crumb topping ever. I won’t lie after eating a bowl of this, I felt a whole lot better.
Macaroni and Cheese while always consisting of cheese and pasta is so open to creativity. For YEARS on thanksgiving I have been making Martha Stewart’s Perfect Macaroni & Cheese to rave reviews from adults and yet my children who crave Annie’s box prepared version always seem to stick their little noses up. (Clearly no accounting for taste) In their defense her version uses a hefty helping of gruyere (which is delicious) but the nutty bite it brings turns my kiddos off… they want simple.
To compromise I made this version, and adults and kids in my house rejoiced and all enjoyed the creaminess and crunch of this satisfying recipe. Mommy felt a sense of contentment as my inner dialogue called out over and over “treat yo’self” and I had lunches for days for my kids.
Bottom line here is that this is now the macaroni and cheese recipe you need on your holiday table or anytime you’re feeling the need to just hole up and eating something yummy because not every dinner can be salad, you know?
Holidays are meant for the foods you don’t normally allow yourself to enjoy and to me that is what makes it feel special. I’m no expert but I find that enjoying a normal portion of something I might typically consider naughty makes me crave a longer run the next day followed by a huge green smoothie.
Kid Friendly Mac and Cheese
Equipment
- Box grater
- Sauce pan
- 9x 13 Baking dish
- Mini food processor
Materials
- 1 lb Pasta I used shells, elbows are also great
- 3 cups Milk
- 4 oz White Mild Cheddar
- 8 oz Medium Cheddar
- 2 oz Cream Cheese room temp
- 1/3 cup Flour
- 5 tbsp Butter Divided
- 1/2 tsp White Pepper
- 1/4 tsp Cayenne Pepper
- 1/4 tsp Nutmeg
- 2 tsp Salt
- 4 Sage leaves
- 3 slices Wheat Sourdough Bread
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and grate your cheeses
- Boil your pasta until it's al dente, drain and set aside
- Melt 4 tablespoons of butter in your large saucepan and as soon as it bubbles add the flour and cook to make a paste. (this is your roux) Slowly whisk in the milk til it thickens and coats the back of a spoon. Remove from heat and add the 2 ounces of room temp cream cheese, 4 ounces of white cheddar and 6 ounces of the yellow cheddar. Once fully incorporated add in your spices and adjust seasoning to your taste.
- In a small mini food processor pulse the sourdough to make crumbs, pour the into a small dish and add the remaining tablespoon of butter, melted.
- Add the warm, drained pasta to the saucepan and combine til the gooey sauce coats all the shells. Pour into a 9×13 baking dish and sprinkle a layer of sourdough crumbs on top, then add an ounce of the reserved grated cheddar, then more breadcrumbs then finally the rest of the cheddar.
- Bake in your preheated oven for 30 mins until the pasta is bubbling and the topping is golden. While you bake the macaroni add 1 tsp of olive oil to a small saucepan and flash fry your sage leaves for 1 min and drain on paper towels. When the pasta is done crumble the leaves over top of the dish and enjoy!
