We love our old macaroni and cheese recipe, which is how my mom used to make it–making a white sauce with butter, flour and dry mustard and adding in grated Cheddar. I like it with onion but the girls prefer I leave it out.
But I keep playing around with recipes from Lidia’s Italy in America and this macaroni and cheese recipe, with Fontina, Cheddar and Parmesan, has definitely become my youngest’s favorite. The Fontina adds a nice tangy flavor I think. And I’m intrigued that the sauce is just milk and cheese–no butter or flour or mustard.
It’s really good!
Upgraded Macaroni and Cheese
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups grated Fontina cheese
- 2 1/2 cups grated Cheddar cheese
- 2 cups milk
- salt
- 1/2 pound elbow macaroni or shape of your choice
- 1 Tbs butter plus more to coat pan
- 1 1/2 cups bread crumbs best from day old good bread
- 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400F.
- Put the grated Fontina and Cheddar cheeses in a bowl and pour the milk over, stirring so most of the cheese is submerged. Let this sit 30 minutes to an hour, until the cheese starts to break down.
- Put a large pot of water on to boil, add some salt and the pasta. Stir while the water comes back to a boil and cook on the low end of the recommended cooking time (9 minutes for the ones I used). Drain into a colander.
- Heat the butter in a small skillet and stir in the bread crumbs. Cook over medium low heat until the crumbs are toasted a bit, about 3 minutes. Spread some more butter around the bottom of a 9″x9″ pan (or equivalent). Coat the bottom with a thin layer of the bread crumbs, reserving most for the top. Mix 1/2 cup of the grated Parmesan into the rest of the bread crumbs.
- Put the cheese and milk into the pan and cook over medium low heat until the cheeses are melted. Stir in the other 1/2 cup of the Parmesan cheese.
- Put the macaroni back into the pan with the cheese sauce and stir until well coated. Pour into the baking dish and spread evenly, then top with the rest of the bread crumbs.
- Bake about 20 minutes.
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