Baked Macaroni and Cheese

 Macaroni and cheese is a great dish.  One of the reasons I like it is because it is a casserole.  I think of casseroles as the tabula rasa, or clean slate, of cooking.  Casseroles are the starting point.  You can take the base recipe, and modify it to your tastes or add ingredients to make it pop.  I like casseroles in particular when you have leftover meat that you have to use before it goes bad.  Add the meat to the casserole, and you can make a whole meal, while avoiding throwing good food away.

The basic recipe for baked macaroni and cheese is as follows:  1 pound of pasta, 4 teaspoons butter, 4 teaspoons flour, some salt, some pepper, 2 cups of milk, 4 cups of cheese and breadcrumbs.

Notice how I don't specify the amount of salt and pepper.  I believe in seasoning to taste.  Sometimes, you need to adjust the level of salt and pepper to account for other ingredients.

I also don't specify what kind of cheese.  This is another area where you can get creative.  Sharp cheddar, mozzarella, parmesan, whatever you're in the mood for.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

First, you boil the pasta.  In my mind, it doesn't matter what kind of pasta.  Macaronis, shells, whatever shape you like.  The important thing is to put some oil and salt in the water before boiling it.  Oil to keep the pasta from sticking.  Salt to season.

Then, while the pasta is cooking, you take the butter and flour to make a roux.  You melt the butter in a large sauce pan over low medium heat.  Slowly add the flour and stir.  Add salt and pepper.  Once you have the roux, you slowly pour in the milk.  Be careful not to burn the milk.  This is followed by the cheese.  I like to buy the packages of shredded cheese.  It makes the cooking go faster.  It also makes measuring easier.

At this point, you can add other ingredients as you see fit.  Do you want a heartier flavor?  Add minced onions.  Do you want to add meat?  Diced ham is very complimentary.  Of course, with ham, you need to adjust the salt so you don't have too much.

By this time, the pasta should be done.  Drain it and rinse it.  Then add the pasta to the cheese sauce.  This is why you need a large sauce pan.

When thoroughly mixed, pour the mixture into a baking pan.  Make sure the macaroni and cheese is spread flat.  Then, sprinkle a thin layer of breadcrumbs over the mix.  You can also sprinkle some parmesan cheese over top of it.  For that matter, you can sprinkle any kind of cheese you want over it.

Bake for about 35 minutes.  In the end, you should have a good looking casserole that bring your cheese lover back for more.