mac 'n cheese

i have tried many homemade mac 'n cheese recipes over the years. one reason is because homemade mac 'n cheese is one of my favorite comfort foods. the other reason is that my kids are extremely picky eaters, and mac 'n cheese is one of the few things they'll eat. this is my favorite recipe and is a variation on a recipe for 'cheesy corkscrews with crunchy bacon topping' from my down home with the neelys cookbook. this recipe is for the noodles with cheese sauce only, but at the end i will talk a bit about toppings.

6 tbs butter
1 lb cavatappi noodles
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
4 cups whole milk, warmed
1 tsp dry mustard powder
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
pinch freshly grated nutmet
dash hot sauce
dash worcestershire sauce
10 oz. cracker barrel vermont sharp white cheddar grated
1 1/4 cups grated parmesan

1. preheat oven to 375°

2. boil water for cooking pasta...add some salt and olive oil.

3. prepare ingredients as follows: a) warm milk in microwave for 1 minute b) grate all cheese and place in a bowl c) measure out all spices and put in a little bowl d) measure out flour e) have hot sauce and worcestershire sauce out. place all these items in easy reach from where you will be cooking.

4. once you put the noodles in you can start cooking the sauce. the noodles will take about 6 minutes because you will want them to be al dente.

5. melt the butter in a big saucepan over medium heat. add the flower and cook whisking for one minute. add the warmed milk and keep whisking constantly while bringing it to a simmer. the sauce should start to thicken as the heat increases.

6. stir in the spice mixture, hot sauce and worcestershire sauce.

7. add in the cheddar and parmesan and mix until melted.

8. add the cooked pasta to the cheese sauce and toss to combine.

9. pour the pasta and sauce into a casserole dish. cover with toppings and bake for 35 minutes.

toppings: i don't use the topping recipe from the neely cookbook instead i take two to three pieces of wheat bread and put them through the food processor and then add about 2 tbs of melted butter. then i sprinkle that on top of the pasta, so it makes a nice crunchy topping. i also sometimes add the bacon and fresh parsley mentioned in the neely recipe, but i don't care for the potato chips because the texture seems strange to me. for the neely crunchy bacon topping mix 1 1/2 cups crushed potato chips, 1/2 cup grated percorino romano cheese, 5 slices cooked bacon, crumbled and 3 tbs chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley.

suki helping out with the magic spices!