Now, whenever I make this, I always make up two batches. One to take wherever I need to go, and one to leave at home. It reheats so nicely the next day by just sticking it in the oven. I usually top it off with a little more cheese just to make it seem a little more fresh, but you don’t even need to do that. It’s perfectly tasty just the way it is. I was worried my kids weren’t going to like this because of the extra ingredients that they aren’t used to, but nobody even said anything about it.
Check out what they are saying about this recipe over at Cravings Of A Lunatic:
“What’s really cool about mac n cheese is the unlimited possibilities. It’s amazingly diverse.”
Once you get this basic recipe down, you can really play with it and make it your own.
Ingredients
8 ounce of Barilla penne noodles
1 pound of Garrotxa, shredded (I used Beemster Aged instead)
¼ cup milk
½ cup creme fraiche
1 tablespoon Land O’ Lakes butter
½ teaspoon freshly ground white pepper
⅓ cup chopped sun-dried tomatoes
5 ounces Serrano ham slices, torn coarsely by hand into chunks ( I used Chorizo.)
Instructions
Preheat your oven to 375 degrees F.
Cook your penne noodles in a large pot of salted boiling water until al dente. (my rule of thumb is usually minus one minute from the package directions in most cases) Drain the noodles. Set aside.
In a saucepan over medium-low heat, combine the cheese, milk, creme fraiche and butter. Cook until the cheese is mostly melted and looks like a creamy sauce. To keep the cheese sauce from breaking you can remove the sauce from the heat a little bit before it’s entirely melted. Season it with pepper to taste.
Butter a shallow casserole dish. Toss the pasta with the ham (chorizo in my case) and sun-dried tomatoes. Pour the sauce over top of the pasta. Stir till combined.
Pop in the oven for about 15 to 20 minutes, or until the top is golden brown.
Remove and serve with a big old I Love Steph and Garrett’s Mac n Cheese smile!
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Quick Tip: Use any shape of pasta that you have on hand.
Thanks again to Cravings Of A Lunatic for this yummy twist on a favorite recipe.
