Macaroni and Cheese

This is almost as good as the box! My kids love Annie’s macaroni and cheese, but I just love trying to make recipes from scratch for the nutritional value and honestly, for the challenge too. This is a special treat because I normally use and love sourdough pasta from Jovial’s Bionaturae, but I think this organic white shell pasta from Whole Foods may work a little better in this recipe. I like to use Grazier’s raw, organic Monterrey Jack or Medium Cheddar cheese from Shady Grove Ranch, but any block cheese will do!

**There are some key tips to this recipe**

The first tip is also relevant for making queso. If you use pre-grated cheese, your mac will be grainy (and so would your queso). So… buy a block of your favorite cheddar cheese and grate it – you will thank me later!

Also, I tried whole wheat penne pasta with this and it was a no-go for my kids. They really wanted the shells for looks, the cheese sticks better to the shells, and the white pasta shells don’t break down like the whole wheat does when stirring too much.

One last tip… keep the stove on low… you don’t want to brown your butter or your cheese!

Ingredients

• 1 pound organic shell pasta noodles
• 1/4 cup salted butter
• 1/4 cup flour (I used whole spelt flour, but any all-purpose flour will work here)
• 1 cup whole milk
• 8 ounces block cheddar cheese, self grated
• 1 1/2 teaspoons Celtic sea salt or Redmond’s fine sea salt plus more to taste

Directions

Boil noodles per package directions. Drain and let sit in colander.

In a medium sized pot, slowly, on low heat, melt the butter.

While butter is melting, grate your cheese.

Once butter is melted, slowly add flour, a little at a time, to avoid clumps, and continually whisk to combine.

Keeping the heat very low, slowly whisk in 1 cup of milk. Whisk and stir until well combined. If you have any lumps, whisk until they are mostly gone.

Add the grated cheese while keeping the stove on low heat. Continually stir while adding cheese and until all cheese is melted. Keep stirring and let mixture cook until it gets creamy and thickens to your liking.

Add salt and taste. Add more to taste if desired.

Add pasta back to pot and stir. Serve immediately. If you let it sit, the cheese will congeal a little bit, but heating it back up will make it creamy and smooth again.

I hope you enjoy!