I didn’t steal this from Barilla, I just took it and expanded on it and made my own tweaks that allow my family to eat their pasta and veggies at once. It takes the gourmet of oven-baked mac and cheese dishes and puts it on the table in under 30 minutes.
No Brainer Mac and Cheese
Servings
8 Servings
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup butter
- 2 cups onion chopped
- 1/4 cup flour
- 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 6 cups milk
- 1 package 16-ounce elbow macaroni, uncooked
- 3 cups shredded cheddar cheese
- 4 cups cooked broccoli florets optional
- 2 14-ounce cans stewed tomatoes, optional
- 2-4 cups frozen peas thawed optional
- 1-3 tablespoons chipotles in adobo adjust for heat preference, optional
Instructions
- Melt butter in a pasta cooking pot. Add onions and saute until golden. Add flour and salt. Cook until flour is slightly brown.
- Add milk, stirring to thoroughly mix, releasing any lumps with a whisk.
- Add uncooked elbows. Cover and simmer gently for 8 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Remove from heat and add cheese and other optional ingredients if desired. Stir and eat.
- Tips:
- * Change up the cheese flavor to include sharp cheeses like blue cheese, fontina, parmesan, etc.
- For the hot tamale in some of us, try adding chopped chipotle chiles in adobo sauce! Use between 1 and 3 T. chipotle in adobo. Divide the finished product into two dishes. The chipotles get added to one dish and leave the other dish as is for the “kids”.
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