Recipe: Three Cheese Macaroni and Cheese

One of the first things I learned to make was homemade macaroni and cheese. It's one of my favorite comfort foods to this day. Here's the recipe I use.

1 pound dried macaroni or other short pasta (I use elbows)

Cheese sauce:

4 tablespoons butter
1 onion, finely chopped (about 1 cup)
6 tablespoons of flour
2 teaspoons of dried mustard powder
4 cups of milk
3 cups grated Gruyere or other Swiss cheese
2 cups grated Cheddar Cheese
1 cup grated Parmesan Cheese
2 teaspoons salt
freshly ground black pepper

Topping:

2 cups breadcrumbs
2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves, chopped
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
1/2 teaspoon salt

1. Preheat oven to 350F

2. Bring a large pot of water to boil. Add the macaroni & cook to the package directions. Drain macaroni & set aside.

3. While the macaroni is cooking, melt butter in a 2 to 3 quart sauce pan over medium heat. Cook onion until translucent and very tender, but not brown. Add the flour and mustard powder and stir, cooking for two minutes. Whisk in the milk, stirring constantly to avoid lumps. Bring sauce to boil. Once it has boiled and thickened, remove from heat & stir in cheeses, salt and pepper.

 4. In large casserole dish, combine macaroni and cheese sauce. Combine topping ingredients and spread mixture on top of the macaroni. Cook at 350F for 30 minutes.

Being the frugal mom that I am, I make a few changes to the original recipe. I use whatever cheeses I happen to have in the house. This time I used Grana Padano which is a hard Italian cheese, Parmesan and Velveeta (yes I know!). In the summer when my herb garden is not under two feet of snow, I use fresh herbs. In the winter, I use dried.

This is an amazingly tasty version of macaroni and cheese. I just cannot stand that boxed stuff.