Gourmet Macaroni and Cheese

Copyright © 2005 Geoffrey Alan Washburn

Using the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0 License

• 3/4 pound pasta
  (I generally use shells or some kind of spiral shaped pasta like rotini or radiatore, sometimes rigantoni)
• 3-4 cups grated port reserve chedder
  (one may choose to substitute a younger chedder. I usually grate an extra cup to sprinkle on top before baking)
• 2 cups milk
  (I generally use one percent, though skim or higher percentages should also work.)
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons butter
  (I actually usually substitute a dash of olive oil. Margarine and other butter substitutes seem to work fine)
• 2 - 4 tablespoons flour or cornstarch
  (serves to thicken the sauce)
• 1/2 pound celery
  (optional, approximately one celery heart)
• 1 large or 2 smaller red onions (optional)
• 1/2 pound cooked ham
  (optional, may also choose to substitute honey ham)
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
  (optional, more or less can be used to suit your taste)
• 1 teaspoon dry mustard
  (optional, 2 teaspoons if from a bottle.)
• 1 teaspoon nutmeg (optional)
• 1/4 pound feta cheese (optional)
• grated parmesan cheese (optional)
• Italian style bread crumbs (optional)

1. Obtain a suitably sized casserole dish.
2. Pre-heat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit.
3. Clean and wash the celery, cutting each stalk into thin cross-wise slices. Place the into the dish. Dice the onion(s). Add them to the dish.
4. Cook the pasta as directed on the package so that it is slightly less done than al dente. Drain and add to the dish.
5. Crumble the feta cheese into the dish mixing with contents as needed.
6. Cut the ham into small, about 1/4 inch, cubes.
7. Grate the chedder.
8. Add the ham to a medium sized pot, along with the milk, flour or cornstarch, salt, black pepper, mustard and nutmeg. Stir well until the most of the large flour/cornstarch fragments have broken up.
9. Begin heating the pot at medium heat, and add the butter or substitute. Stir constantly. Be careful to prevent clumping on the bottom of the pot which may burn.
10. Once the burner has reached temperature, slowly add grated chedder while continuing to stir.
11. Once all the grate chedder has been added and the sauce has begun to thicken up, remove and poor into the casserole dish.
12. Mix the contents of the casserole dish so that it is relatively homogeneous.
13. Sprinkle any remaining grated chedder and the grate parmesan cheese on top of the contents of the dish.
14. Add a thin layer of bread-crumbs on top.
15. Place the dish in the oven. Cook until bubbling and/or golden brown (or darker if you prefer a crunchier crust).
16. Remove and allow it to cool for at least five minutes before serving.