The greatest gooey stove top macaroni and cheese recipe
Macaroni and cheese is the ultimate comfort food. So utterly simple to prepare, it is a dish that is satisfying because it reminds you of home, family, or friends. Gooey, ooey cheese nestled in a bed of tender macaroni, that even the sound it makes as you place it in your dish is hard to resist. Macaroni and cheese is so delicious and decadent, it is hard to stop your mouth from watering just thinking about the dish.
American Cheese gets a bad wrap. American cheese is processed cheese made from a blend of milk, milk fats and solids, with other fats and whey protein concentrates. At first it was made from a mixture of cheeses, more often than not Colby and Cheddar. Since blended cheeses are no longer used, it cannot be legally called “cheese” and has to be labeled as “processed cheese”, “cheese product“, etc. Sometimes, instead of the word cheese, it is called as “American slices” or “American singles”. Under the U.S. Code of Federal Regulations, American cheese is a type of pasteurised processed cheese. For this recipe, we like to get our American cheese at the deli counter, where we can ask to have it purchased in a block, rather than sliced.
Stove Top Macaroni and Cheese
Use a good melting cheese or combination thereof, like American, cheddar, Jack, Fontina, young Swiss, Gruyere, Muenster, young provolone, and/or young Gouda.
To reheat the pasta, add a few tablespoons of milk to the pan and cook, stirring gently, over medium-low heat until hot.
Macaroni and cheese can be frozen for up to 1 month. Prepare recipe below, placing in freezer safe casserole dish. Allow noodles to cool, cover tightly with plastic wrap and then aluminum foil. When ready to serve, bake from the frozen state in pre-heated 325′ oven for 30-40 minutes or until hot and bubbly.
Ingredients
- 1 pound elbow macaroni (brown rice elbow macaroni works well too)
- Kosher salt
- One 12-ounce can evaporated milk
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon hot sauce (Crystal or Frank’s RedHot)
- 1 teaspoon ground, dry mustard
- 1 pound extra-sharp cheddar, grated
- 8 ounces American cheese, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into 4 chunks
Directions
- In a large pasta pot, cook your macaroni according to the directions on the back of the package
- Meanwhile, mix together the milk, eggs, hot sauce and dry mustard until they are well incorporated
- Toss together the cheeses and cornstarch to coat
- When the pasta is cooked, drain and add back to the pasta pot over low heat, adding the butter slowly until all is melted
- Add the milk mixture and cheese mixture in intervals to the buttered pasta constantly stirring until everything is melted and gooey
- Place in a serving platter and serve
- For a crispy-crunchy topping, place macaroni and cheese in a heat resistant casserole dish under the broiler for approximately 4 minutes or until the top is browned to your liking
