Macaroni and Cheese

My husband and I love macaroni and cheese. Seriously…what’s not to love about noodles covered in a cheese sauce? As convenient as the box mixes are, it really does not take much more time to make it from scratch. Well semi from scratch as I’m not making my own noodles. We prefer the stop top method as we are not big fans of the crumbly topping that normally comes with the baked version.

Bechamel Sauce
1 cup shredded cheese
1 teaspoon Worcestershire
8 ounces of dried noodles (elbow macaroni is what we normally use)
Salt, pepper to taste

Using the basic Bechamel Sauce recipe (for the purpose of this macaroni and cheese I use 1 tablespoon butter, 1 tablespoon of flour to one cup of heavy cream. I know the recipe calls for milk but my husband and I love the added richness the cream gives the sauce.)

While cooking the Bechamel Sauce, bring a pot of salted water to boil and cook the noodles per instructions. Drain well but do not rinse. Rinsing will take the starch off the noodles and they need that starch for the sauce to cling to.

Once the Bechamel is ready, add the Worcestershire and slowly add the shredded cheese. You can use any good melting cheese. I have a soft spot for Gruyer. Chedder and Fontina also work well. Stir until all the cheese is melted. Add salt and pepper if you think it needs it (the Bechamel should have already been seasoned). Slowly add the cheese sauce to the noodles, mixing until every noodle is covered with cheesy goodness.

Serve and enjoy! This makes four servings. Normally I have a little bit of sauce left over, steam some broccoli and/or cauliflower and pour over that! YUM!