Creamy Homemade Baked Mac & Cheese

 Marcie got this recipe from Christy Eggers and served it at Afton's mission open house in giant foil pans.

Prep time 20 min

Cook time 15 min

Total time 35 min

Serves 8-10

1 lb dried elbow pasta

1/2 cup unsalted butter

1/2 cup all purpose flour

4 cups half and half

6 cups shredded cheese (Marcie used combo of cheddar jack, sharp cheddar, mozzarella/provologne)

1/2 Tbsp salt

1/2 tsp black pepper

1/4 tsp smoked paprika

Cooked bacon

Italian bread crumbs

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 325 and grease 9x13 baking dish

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. When boiling, add dried pasta and cook 1 minute less than the package directs for al dente. Drain and drizzle with a little bit of olive oil to keep from sticking.

While water is coming up to a boil, shred cheeses and toss together to mix, then divide into three piles. Approximately 3 cups for the sauce, 1 1/2 cups for the innner layer, and 1 1/2 cups for the topping.

Melt butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Sprinkle in flour and whisk to combine. Mixture will look like very wet sand. Cook for approximately 1 minute, whisking often. Slowly pour in about 2 cups of the half and half, while whisking constantly until smooth. Slowly pour in the remaining half and half, while whisking constantly until combined and smooth.

Continue to heat over medium heat, whisking very often, until thickened to a very thick consistency. It should almost be the consistency of a semi thinned out condensed soup.

Remove from the heat and stir in spices and 1 1/2 cups of the cheeses, stirring to melt and combine. Stir in another 1 1/2 cups of cheese, and stir until completely melted and smooth. 

In a large mixing bowl, combined drained pasta with cheese sauce, stirring to combine fully. Pour half of the pasta into the prepared baking dish. Top with 1 1/2 cups of the shredded cheeses, then top that with the remaining pasta mixture.

Sprinkle the top with the last 1 1/2 cups of cheese, bacon and Italian bread crumbs, and bake for 15 minutes, until cheese is bubbly and lightly golden brown.