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The easiest, creamiest, cheesiest, simple mac & cheese, made without flour or a roux, a kid and cored pleaser. It’s the most requested comfort food by my kids, and everyone has their favorite way of making it, so I have never posted this recipe, then I heard it was National Mac & Cheese Day- what is that!! 

I wanted to share a truly simple mac and cheese recipe—one that’s almost as easy as that little blue box but without the added color and ingredients you cannot pronounce.  

Use any kind of pasta, I use up any leftover dry pasta- heavy cream, shredded cheddar cheese ( shaper the better) and grated parmesan. That’s it. I’ve tried countless mac and cheese recipes over the years and never found one that my kids loved. 

This recipe came from a chef at the cafeteria where I used to work, although he never gave the exact recipe since he made enough for 70 people, all I needed was an idea and since then I have been making this absolutely foolproof and wonderfully creamy Mac & Cheese in the same amount of time it takes to cook boxed version.

Ingredients

• 16 oz pasta about 4cups- use fun shapes like bowtie, cavatappi, cellentani, or corkscrews
• 2 cups / heavy cream, half &half, milk or a mix of both
• 1 teaspoon salt or to taste 
• 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon ground mustard or a squirt or two of yellow mustard (optional but recommended)
• 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese mild or sharp. (Shred your own cheddar off the block, don’t buy pre-shredded which is often tossed with a cellulose powder that will keep the cheese from melting properly and turn mac & cheese clumpy.)
• 2 tablespoons mascarpone or cream cheese (if you don’t have cream cheese just substitute another cup of cheddar cheese, but the macaroni will be less creamy)

Instructions

• Bring 6 cups of water to a boil in a medium-saucepan over high heat, when boiling salt well.
• Once water comes to boil, cook according to the packet, stirring occasionally.
• Strain pasta, do not rinse! You want those surface starches!
  

Make the cheese sauce

1. Combine milk, salt, pepper and mustard in the saucepan, once milk comes to a simmer, turn heat on low and begin mixing handfuls of cheese into the milk. Stir until all the cheese has melted and the sauce is creamy. Taste and adjust the seasonings as desired. 
2. Remove the sauce from the heat.
3. Add pasta and stir, allow to sit about 30 seconds until slightly melty and then stir until pasta is coated. Don’t turn up the heat too high or the cheese will not melt properly.
   
   

Notes:

To bake with a crunchy  topping: Put macaroni and cheese in a greased casserole dish. Bake at 350 degrees F until warmed through. Top this recipe with a crushed crumb topping or mild cheddar cheese.