(Nicely) cheesy pasta with crispity edges is a very good thing…
or, at least I thought so.
We were having very important guests for an early dinner, two lovely young ladies and their dad, and I was looking for something suitable for the refined (ermmm, not to say picky) palates of a worldly first grader and her K3 sister.
Mac and cheese and hot dogs, right?
Well, I have to admit, while the rest of us fully enjoyed this great take on a classic, the little folk were unimpressed, and, for them, Kraft Dinner remains supreme.
Fortunately, that means more for us! AND, thanks to Trisha Yearwood and the always helpful folk at The Food Network for the basic recipe.
INGREDIENTS
•Cooking spray
•8 oz cooked elbow macaroni
•1 (12 oz) can evaporated milk
•1-1/2 cup whole milk
•1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter, melted
•2 tbsp yellow mustard
•1 tsp salt
•Dash of pepper
•2 large eggs, beaten
•1 cup sharp Cheddar cheese, shredded
•4 cups Cheddar-Colby cheese, shredded
•Dash of paprika
•Hot dogs (optional)
Apply cooking spray to a four-quart slow cooker, then add the butter and set it on low.
Cook the macaroni according to package directions and drain – by which time the butter in the slow cooker should have melted (I love it when a plan comes together).
Stir the mustard into the melted butter in the slow cooker, then add the drained macaroni and toss to coat.
Whisk the eggs together with the whole milk and add to the slow cooker along with the evaporated milk, the salt, and the pepper.
Combine the cheeses and stir 4-1/2 cups into the macaroni mixture.
Sprinkle the remaining 1/2 cup of cheese over the top, then top with a good bit of paprika, cover, and cook on low for about three hours (Ms. Yearwood specifies three hours and 15 minutes).
If you’re planning on adding hot dogs, arrange them on top of the mac and cheese after 2-1/2 hours, then cover and allow to continue cooking.
Perfect mac and cheese!
Well, except for our two littlest guests who, as it turns out, also really hate mustard, so mebbe that’s what did me in on the pasta (tho’ they did not know I’d added those two tablespoonfuls).
Oh well, one lives, one learns, one keeps a box or two of Kraft dinner in the pantry…