Easy Peasy Baked Mac and Cheesy

You can use any kind of pasta you like. I use cavatappi. I’ve used this recipe with elbow, farfalle and shells, but found that cavatappi works best. But you can use whatever you like!

1. Preheat your oven to 350ºF.

2. Cook your pasta according to the directions on the package. Once the water comes to a boil and you put the pasta in your water, you can start making your sauce.

3. Melt the butter over low heat until melted.

4. Raise the heat to medium-low and add in the flour, salt and pepper, stirring constantly until smooth and bubbly.

5. Remove from heat and add the milk. Return to the stove and heat to boiling, stirring constantly until the sauce is thick and coats the back of a wooden spoon. This will take about 10-15 minutes. You are basically making a bechamel sauce.

6. Add the nutmeg and Dijon mustard and stir.

7. Grate half a block of cheese. I used extra sharp cheddar, then also bought a package of already-shredded cheese to help save some time. You can use any cheese you like though. Some Gruyere, bleu, Swiss, provolone, jalapeno cheddar … all those would be super tasty.

8. Once the sauce is thick and bubbly, add in your cheese and stir. The cheese sauce will now be very thick!

9. Your pasta should be done before all this, so just make sure you drain it—but do not rinse! Return the pasta to your boiling pot.

10. Pour the cheese sauce into the pot and stir well.

11. Pour the macaroni and cheese into an ungreased 9 x 13 glass dish.

12. Sprinkle some shredded cheese on the top.

13. Pour half the package of Goldfish crackers into a food storage bag. Use your hand, a rolling pin or a pan to smash the crackers into crumbles. Sprinkle the mixture on top of your macaroni and cheese.

14. Bake the macaroni and cheese for 20-25 minutes.

Serve hot!