Gourmet Macaroni & Cheese

Yes, that's right, "Gourmet" Macaroni & Cheese. I made this two years ago when I was pregnant. My husband loves mac and cheese but I don't like the non-cheese flavors of store bought macaroni and cheese.

So instead of listing all the things you need at once, I will group the items together by step:

Preheat Oven to 350 degrees. 

Grate your cheeses: 4 cups of Jarlsberg and 2 cups of Gouda (you can use cheddar and greyure or whatever combination you wish). reserve some to put on top of the dish for when you stick it in the oven.

You will need: cavatappi or elbow macaroni (or whatever kind you wish to try).

Boil it until just tender. Drain. While it's boiling make the bechamel sauce:

You will need: 4 tablespoons of flour, 4 cups of milk, dash of nutmeg,  dash of kosher salt,  dash of white pepper, 5 tablespoons of butter.

Melt butter over medium low heat until melted, add the flour and stir until smooth. Continuing over the medium heat, cook the mixture until it turns a light, golden sandy color (about six to seven minutes) so that the flour tastes gets cooked out. Heat the milk in a separate pan until right under a boil. Add hot milk to butter mixture one cup at a time and whisking the entire time until smooth. Bring to a boil. Cook ten minutes. Stirring constantly (it will burn and clump up). Then remove from heat, season with salt and nutmeg, and white pepper and add your cheeses. Stir until smooth and cheeses are melted. 

Add the cooked (or semi cooked) macaroni to the bechamel sauce:

You can add meat or vegetables at this point too. I added chicken but if you truly wanted to go gourmet you can add tomatoes to it as well.

Prepare the bread crumbs for one top:

I added Parmesan cheese and some Italian seasonings to it.

Put the macaroni mixture in a dish that has been buttered and floured and then top with the remaining cheese and breadcrumbs.

Bake for about 30 minutes.
If you are worried about the top burning you can add little bits of butter to the top for it to brown and not burn. 

Enjoy your new fancy meal, aimed to please any guy out there!