Baked Macaroni & Cheese

Serves a party, or a house full of picky children (of any age)
Vegetarian

One of my favorite things to do when I host a dinner party is to serve really basic, comfortable, childhood favorites. Fancy food is stupid, and there never seems to be enough of it anyway. Here is how to make my version of one of your favorite dishes.

1 lb pasta (I love to use weird, curly shapes…anything but long noodles goes)
oil
1 onion, chopped
1 head of garlic, cleaned and chopped
butter
flour
veggie stock
milk (use 2%...anything with less fat makes this dish watery and not worth it.)
salt & pepper
dry mustard
dried or fresh herbs (I love thyme, basil, and oregano, but use what you have / like)
hot sauce
1 lb cheese, shredded (I love classic cheddar in this, but try any other cheese you like as well)

Preheat your oven to 400°.

Boil your noodles. While the noodles boil, sauté the onion and garlic in a large pot with some olive oil until they are translucent.

Turn the heat onto medium-low. Add 3-4 tablespoons of butter and let it melt, but do not let it brown.

Add 3-4 tablespoons of flour. The goal here is to create a paste that will help to thicken your cheese sauce. If there seems to be excess flour, add more butter until a paste forms. Cook this for a minute until the paste begins to darken slightly.

Add a cup of veggie stock and stir.

Add 3 cups of milk and stir. Bring this mixture up to a boil very slowly. You will see that the sauce begins to thicken once it begins to boil. If it is too thick, add more stock or water. Make sure to scrape the bottom and sides of the pot.

Add a TON of salt, pepper, dry mustard, herbs, and hot sauce. TASTE IT! This mixture should taste really, really flavorful. Continue to add seasonings until it does.

Add ¾ of the cheese to the mixture. Stir and taste. Make sure it still has the right seasoning.
Pour everything into a baking dish. Sprinkle the top with the remaining ¼ of the cheese and pop it in the oven until the top is crunchy and brown (about 10 minutes).

For a cool serving idea, spoon the macaroni and cheese into hollowed-out bell peppers before baking. Want to get crazy? Try adding some goat or blue cheese when you make the sauce. Want a balanced meal? Try mixing in some beans, sautéed veggies, or fake ground meat. Just about anything goes with noodles and cheese. Be adventurous! You can’t go wrong.