Tuesday, November 2, 2010

Sharp Rotini Mac & Cheese - SAMM

I know, I'm a day late for SAMM (Share a Meal Monday) but yesterday I could not get motivated to do anything.  I didn't want to go without sharing one of our favorite meals though.

My Mom loves Macaroni and cheese, not Kraft Dinner but good, homemade cheesy mac and cheese.  It's probably because of her love that I've known how to make a really good cheese sauce for as long as I can remember.  I've made a bunch of different variations on the classic but this one easily stands out as our favorite.

I haven't actually made it in a while so there won't be any pictures but it's super yummy and you should give it a try.

Sharp Rotini Mac & Cheese

2 cups rotini pasta
3 tomatoes, diced
4 strips of bacon, fried and crumbled
2 green onions, finely sliced on an angle (they're prettier on an angle)

Sauce:
2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups milk
1 1/2 cups chicken broth
1 tsp of dried mustard
Salt & Pepper to taste
2 cups extra aged cheddar cheese, grated (it's a white cheese)

Cook your pasta according to the directions, while it's cooking make your sauce.

Heat a pot over medium-high heat. Melt butter and add flour and whisk well. Season with salt, pepper and mustard and let cook a minute. Whisk in milk and broth and bring to a boil (you could use all milk but the broth makes it a little lighter and less fatty).   Lower heat and add cheese, stirring to melt.

When your pasta is done drain and I like to add my green onions immediately to the hot pasta so it has some time to wilt. Stir in your tomatoes, bacon and add your cheese sauce.  I like to save the bacon until the last minute so it stays yummy and crispy.  Once everything is mixed go ahead and enjoy.

You could also pour it into a casserole dish, top with breadcrumbs mixed with melted butter and bake until they're nice and golden (about 20 minutes) but I can never wait to eat and so we always skip this step.

This picture doesn't show the bacon, tomatoes or onions but other than that it's pretty close to the end result.

Linking to Share a Meal Monday

1 comments:

Mitz said...

I'm definitely going to try this and that's saying something! :)