{"id":55042,"date":"2025-02-11T21:48:31","date_gmt":"2025-02-11T21:48:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nowellfamily.org\/cookbook\/?p=55042"},"modified":"2025-10-14T17:20:38","modified_gmt":"2025-10-14T17:20:38","slug":"baked-macaroni-and-cheese","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nowellfamily.org\/cookbook\/2025\/02\/11\/baked-macaroni-and-cheese\/","title":{"rendered":"Baked Macaroni and Cheese"},"content":{"rendered":"<h4 style=\"text-align: center;\">Yield: 4 to 6 Servings<\/h4>\n<h6 style=\"text-align: center;\">Adapted from: Rachael Ray \/ Food Network<\/h6>\n<p>A few notes to answer some common questions \u2013<br \/>\u2022 Sharp or extra sharp cheddar work best<br \/>\u2022 Grate your own cheese for best results, but it works with pre-grated as well, although pre-grated is usually coated with anti-caking agents and can make for grainy sauce.<br \/>\u2022 Breadcrumbs on the top &#8211; Gayle&#8217;s preference<br \/>\u2022 We like the top extra crispy. If you do not, I\u2019d recommend covering with foil for the first 30 minutes.<br \/>\u2022 Nothing like some nice browned burger or <strong><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">hot Italian sausage<\/span><\/strong> mixed in.<br \/>\u2022 This can be prepped a day ahead and baked prior to serving.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span class=\"quantity\">1<\/span><span class=\"ingredient-name\">lb elbow macaroni <\/span><\/li>\n<li><span class=\"quantity\">1<\/span><span class=\"ingredient-name\">lb (4 cups) shredded extra sharp or sharp cheddar cheese<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span class=\"quantity\">2<\/span><span class=\"ingredient-name\">TBS AP flour<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span class=\"quantity\">\u00bc<\/span><span class=\"ingredient-name\">tsp ground mustard (can be omitted)<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span class=\"id-ingredient-name\">salt and pepper to taste<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span class=\"quantity\">2<\/span><span class=\"ingredient-name\">cups low-fat milk (or go with whole if you\u2019re feeling indulgent!)<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span class=\"quantity\">1\u00bd<\/span><span class=\"ingredient-name\">TBS butter<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span class=\"quantity\">1<\/span><span class=\"ingredient-name\">lb ground beef or <strong><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">hot Italian sausage<\/span><\/strong> (optional)<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Preheat oven to 375\u00b0F. <strong>Spray<\/strong> or <strong>grease<\/strong> a casserole dish or a 9&#215;13 pan.<\/p>\n<p>Bring 1 gallon of <strong>water<\/strong> to boil in a large pot. Add in 1 TBS <strong>salt,<\/strong> stir and add <strong>macaroni.<\/strong> Cook <strong>macaroni<\/strong> as directed on the package until firm.<\/p>\n<p>While <strong>macaroni<\/strong> is cooking, heat a 10-inch skillet over medium-high heat, add <strong>ground beef (or <span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">hot Italian sausage<span style=\"color: #000000;\">)<\/span><\/span><\/strong>, season with salt and pepper\u00a0and cook, breaking up until browned and mostly cooked through. Drain and set aside.<\/p>\n<p>Combine 2\u00bd cups of <strong>cheese<\/strong> with dry ingredients (2 TBS <strong>flour, <\/strong>\u00bc tsp <strong>ground mustard, <\/strong>\u00bd tsp <strong>salt<\/strong> and \u00bc tsp <strong>pepper<\/strong>) in a medium bowl.<\/p>\n<p>Drain macaroni and return to pot. Add <strong>cheese<\/strong> <strong>mixture,\u00a0<\/strong>and <strong>browned meat<\/strong>. Mix to combine and add <strong>milk<\/strong> over macaroni and mix again to combine.\u00a0 Pour into the <strong>greased<\/strong> pan. Top with remaining 1\u00bd cups of\u00a0<strong>cheese<\/strong> and dot with <strong>butter.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Bake for 45 minutes or until firm and golden-brown.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Optional: <\/strong>Let sit for 10 minutes before serving to further firm up.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Note:<\/strong> We like the <strong>macaroni and cheese<\/strong> a little extra crispy. If you like it softer<strong>,<\/strong> cover it <span style=\"font-size: revert; color: initial;\">with foil for the first 30 minutes of baking.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Yield: 4 to 6 Servings Adapted from: Rachael Ray \/ Food Network A few notes to answer some common questions \u2013\u2022 Sharp or extra sharp cheddar work best\u2022 Grate your own cheese for best results, but it works with pre-grated as well, although pre-grated is usually coated with anti-caking agents and can make for grainy sauce.\u2022 Breadcrumbs on the top &#8211; Gayle&#8217;s preference\u2022 We like the top extra crispy. If you do not, I\u2019d recommend covering with foil for the&#8230;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"><a class=\"btn btn-default\" href=\"https:\/\/nowellfamily.org\/cookbook\/2025\/02\/11\/baked-macaroni-and-cheese\/\"> Read More<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">  Read More<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":55043,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[437,315],"class_list":["post-55042","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pasta","tag-cheddar-cheese","tag-macaroni"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nowellfamily.org\/cookbook\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2025\/02\/MacCheeseRR.jpg?fit=581%2C427&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nowellfamily.org\/cookbook\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55042","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nowellfamily.org\/cookbook\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nowellfamily.org\/cookbook\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nowellfamily.org\/cookbook\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nowellfamily.org\/cookbook\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=55042"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/nowellfamily.org\/cookbook\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55042\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":55483,"href":"https:\/\/nowellfamily.org\/cookbook\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55042\/revisions\/55483"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nowellfamily.org\/cookbook\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/55043"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nowellfamily.org\/cookbook\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=55042"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nowellfamily.org\/cookbook\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=55042"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nowellfamily.org\/cookbook\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=55042"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}