I know it's easy to just open the blue box and make mac and cheese, but this is a great recipe and comes out very good. Leftovers are also good.

Ingredients

Cooking Directions

Heat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a large pot of boiling, salted water cook the pasta to al dente.

While the pasta is cooking, in a separate pot, melt the butter. Whisk in the flour and mustard and keep it moving for about five minutes. Make sure it's free of lumps. Stir in the milk, onion, bay leaf, and paprika. Simmer for ten minutes and remove the bay leaf.

Temper in the egg. Stir in 3/4 of the cheese. Season with salt and pepper. Fold the macaroni into the mix and pour into a 2-quart casserole dish. Top with remaining cheese.

Melt the butter in a sauté pan and toss the bread crumbs to coat. Top the macaroni with the bread crumbs. Bake for 30 minutes. Remove from oven and rest for five minutes before serving.

Melt the butter

Cook the Macaroni - rinse to stop the cooking

Butter melted

Add flour and mustard

Continually stir until thick

As béchamel thickens, color changes (this one cooked quicker than I wanted)

Add milk and seasonings.

Cook

Temper the egg and add

Mix in the cheese

I added ground meat into this batch

Mix in and cook down a bit

Melt some more butter for the topping

Add breadcrumbs to melted butter to toast

Breadcrumbs soak up the butter and toast

Top the macaroni with the cheese

Add toasted bread crumbs to the top

Cooked

Baked Macaroni and Cheese