3 Cheese Mac and Cheese

Even the healthiest of eaters have those moments when they "cheat" or indulge, right? I have always had a love for comfort food, and the cold weather yesterday really had me wanting something rich, warm, and comforting. Now, I have dabbled with mac and cheese recipes for a past year or two, coming up with some that were good, but nothing that really stopped my quest for creating something better... until this one. Some people like creamy mac and cheese, drier baked mac and cheese, cheddar mac and cheese, fancy mac and cheese, there are just so many ways to make it and THIS is the kind of mac and cheese that I love. Baked, creamy, super cheesy, and ULTRA comforting!

A little tip about cheese: I never buy the shredded stuff in the bag. If you have the time, it is SO worth it to grate/shred cheese yourself. The bagged stuff is lightly coated with an anti-clumping substance that can really change the consistency of cheese when you are melting it. Plus, it's a few extra calories burned to compensate for all the yummy cheese you're about to devour! And, there is NOTHING like the good stuff when it comes to parmesan. The wedge of parm may seem expensive, but you are really getting just as much, if not more, cheese for your money grating it yourself and a TON more flavor.




3 Cheese Mac and Cheese

4 tbsp butter
4 tbsp flour
1 dash of nutmeg
3/4 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
2 cups room temp milk
4 tbsp grated parmesan
1/4 cup heavy cream
4 oz grated swiss cheese (this could be subbed for Monterrey Jack or Mozzarella)
10 oz grated extra sharp cheddar
1 lbs elbow pasta

In a medium saucepan, melt butter over medium low heat. Whisking constantly, add in flour and cook for 1 minute. Whisk in milk and stir until it has thickened to a thin gravy consistency. Off the heat, stir in nutmeg, salt, pepper, and parmesan cheese and set aside to cool. While cooling, cook pasta as directed but stop 1 minute short of package directions. Drain and return back to pot.

Preheat oven to 375º.

By this time, your white sauce should have cooled to a lukewarm temperature and can be poured over and mixed up with your hot, cooked pasta. Once well mixed, stir in your heavy cream and cool an additional few minutes. Stir in shredded cheeses (you want the mixture to be cool enough not to melt the cheese before adding it so the oven does the melting for you), reserving a large handful of cheddar for the top, and pour into a 9x13 baking dish, top with remaining cheese, and cover with foil.

Bake for 20 minutes and remove foil, turn up temp to 425, and bake an additional 5-10 minutes until the edges brown slightly. Serve hot and enjoy!