Comfort Food

With my leftover cheese from fondue night, I decided to make the most perfect fall comfort food: macaroni and cheese. Usually I have a hard time figuring out what to do with the left over Gruyere and Emmentaler and that stuff isn't exactly cheap so I hate for it to go to waste.

I based my recipe on Ina Garten's Grown Up Mac and Cheese. A recipe I spotted on quite a few blogs last month for Barefoot Bloggers. The result was phenomenal! I especially loved the hint of nutmeg in the dish - delish! I decided this is definitely a mac and cheese that would be ok to serve to company. :)

Macaroni and Cheese
Adapted from: Ina Garten



Vegetable oil
Kosher salt
2 cups shells
1 3/4 - 2 cups milk
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
Gruyere, Emmentaler, and Sharp Cheddar cheese, grated (Combined, mine equaled a little over 2 cups.)
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Pinch nutmeg
Grated Colby Jack Cheese to taste
Panko Bread Crumbs to taste

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Drizzle oil into a large pot of boiling salted water. Add the macaroni and cook according to the directions on the package, 6 to 8 minutes. Drain well.

Meanwhile, heat the milk in a small saucepan, but don't boil it. Melt the butter in a medium pot and add the flour. Cook over low heat for 2 minutes, stirring with a whisk. While whisking, add the hot milk and cook for a minute or 2 more, until thickened and smooth. Off the heat, add the Gruyere, Cheddar, Emmentaler, 1 teaspoon salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Add the cooked macaroni and stir well.

Pour into a 2 1/2 qt baking dish. Sprinkle Colby Jack Cheese over top of pasta, sprinkle bread crumbs over top Colby-Jack Cheese. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, or until the sauce is bubbly and the macaroni is browned on the top.