Thursday, June 3, 2010

Baked Macaroni Casserole


There is something about macaroni that I have always found very comforting. I guess it could be associated with a macaroni in soup dish that my mom would make me sometimes when I wasn't feeling well while growing up. Honestly, I find that other types of pastas are really overrated...you can hardly ever find macaroni on the menu of restaurants other than the random place with macaroni and cheese on their kids menu.

In terms of the cheese, I ended up using a full block of cheddar and found that the cheese flavor was a little strong for me. I would definitely want to do half and half with mozzarella in the future.

INGREDIENTS

½ lb. Macaroni
3 tbsp. Butter
3 tbsp. Flour
1 ½ cup Milk
½ lb. Cheese (Cheddar or mix of Mozzarella with Cheddar)
½ cup Bread Crumbs
1 tsp. Salt
1 tsp. Pepper
1 cup of Mushrooms (sliced)
1 cup of frozen mixed Vegetables
10 slices of Ham (cut in thin strips)

DIRECTIONS

Cook and drain the macaroni according to directions on the package.

Preheat oven to 400 F.

In a small pot, melt butter over medium heat. Add flour, salt and pepper while stirring constantly.

Add milk while still stirring. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low. Add ¾ of the cheese and stir until melted. Once the cheese is melted into the mixture, turn off the heat and set aside.

In a buttered casserole dish, mix macaroni, mushrooms, frozen mixed vegetables and ham until all combined. Add cheese sauce. Mix with all the ingredients until everything is coated with the sauce. Top with remainder of the cheese and bread crumbs.

Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 20 minutes. To brown, remove aluminum foil and broil for an additional 5 minutes.

1 comment:

  1. i love macaroni too, it's one of my comfort foods. i like making it in chicken broth, with slices of ham, peas, cornbits, slices of chinese mushrooms. i like to sprinkle some sauce made with soya, green onions, white pepper, sesame and some dashi. so simple but soooo gooooood!

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