Hello everyone and welcome to yet another day of Thanksgiving countdown! I have to go to a Thanksgiving dinner party this weekend and I have been trying to decide what type of entree I would make for such a wonderful yearly event. Making turkey isn’t really my forte so I’m going to leave the turkey making to my aunt but I can do my best with helping out with the sides by practicing my skills at making the ever so classic, mac n’ cheese. I know macaroni and cheese isn’t the most traditional Thanksgiving dish out there but, my family and the kids love the stuff so it’s something that we can’t do without!
I like using shell pasta the best when it comes to macaroni and cheese because I find that the shells end up holding in some of the cheese sauce so when you eat it, you get optimum “cheese-age” as lil’ bun likes to call it.
As for cheese, I like to use a combination of Cheddar, Mozzarella and Monterey Jack for a more well rounded taste but the type of cheese you use is really up to you. I find that Mozzarella and Monterey Jack tend to form more “stringy” cheese strands that make eating this dish extra fun but when I was practicing this dish at home the other day, all I had in the fridge was marbled Cheddar cheese slices so I had to make do. It wasn’t the best option but it didn’t turn out too bad because I threw in a few slices of ham in there to add some smokiness. 🙂 And hey, if you don’t have anything else to add to your mac n’ cheese but still want to jazz it up a little….add some ketchup to it…or…was I the only one who did that as a kid? Is that weird?
Ingredients (serves 10)
- 6 cups pasta of choice (preferably shell or elbow)
- 3 cups milk of choice (if vegan I suggest using coconut cream to make it creamier)
- 1/4 cup flour
- 3 cups shredded cheese of choice (for vegan, use 1 cup nutritional yeast + 2 cup blended soaked cashews)
- seasonings to taste (salt, pepper, paprika, mustard, etc)
Cooking time:
1. Prepare your pasta according to your package’s instructions. Then strain the noodles through a strainer and set them aside.
2. To make the cheese sauce, heat 2 cups of milk in a sauce pan over mediumheat. While your milk is heating up, mix together the remaining 1 cup of milk and the flour together.
3. Add your milk + flour mixture into the saucepan when your milk begins to simmer. Stir everything together for 3-4 minutes until it gets thick and creamy.
4. Reduce the heat to medium-low and stir in your cheese. Continue to mix everything together until all the cheese has melted. Season your cheese sauce with salt and pepper. When you’re happy with your sauce, remove it from the heat.
5. Transfer your pasta into a large bowl and pour your cheese sauce on top of it. Stir everything together until the noodles are thoroughly coated.
Fun!
yum yum yummm!