Hannie’s Mac & Cheese

In honor of my upcoming 28th Birthday on Monday I wanted to share my new mac & cheese creation! Nothing says comfort like Mac & Cheese. It’s the perfect pairing of two beautiful things, pasta & cheese. I followed @Arianna on Tik Tok’s recipe as the base but I switched it up with the cheeses a lil. I added blue cheese crumbles, now if you don’t like blue cheese I beg you to still give this a try as it adds the perfect amount of funkiness and adds to that creamy mouth feel. DON’T KNOCK IT TIL YOU TRY IT.

Ingredients

• 1 Box Noodles. I used wide rigatoni noodles
• Chicken stock for boiling
• 4 TBSP Butter
• 1/4 Cup Flour
• 3 Cups Half & Half or Heavy Cream
• 6 oz Smoked Gouda, shredded
• 8 oz Sharp Cheddar Cheese, shredded
• 8 oz Sharp White Cheddar Cheese, shredded
• 8 oz Colby Jack, shredded
• 1/4 Cup Crumbled Bleu Cheese
• 1/2 Cup Cream Cheese
• 1 Cup Sour Cream
• Salt + Pepper
• 1/2 TSP Garlic Powder
• Paprika for topping

Let’s Get Cooking

Preheat the oven to 350F

Fill a large pot with chicken stock + water + salt and cook the noodles according to the package. Drain, BUT DON’T RINSE, and place in your preferred baking dish, stir in the sour cream and mix until coated..

In a medium/large saucepan, add in the butter and melt on MED/HIGH heat.

Let the butter melt before adding the flour, and whisk until combined and the rue turns a golden brown, about 3-4 minutes. While mixing, slowly add in the Heavy cream/Half & Half in 1 cup increments. Let come to a low boil, for 3-4 minutes.

Once the mixture has thickened, add in the cream cheese and mix until melted. Add three-quarters of the rest of the cheeses [be sure to save some for topping], mix until melted.

Add in the spices, remove sauce from heat, and pour over the noodles.

Top with remaining cheese and paprika and bake for 20 minutes. Finish off by broiling on HIGH for 5-7 minutes until the top is golden brown.

Serve warm & enjoy!

Made with Love,

Hannah