A Comfort Food Recipe from the South

Don’t you just love those recipes that call for one can or bag of an ingredient? Just kidding. But that’s how my MawMaw’s recipes were written down. My grandmother’s baked macaroni and cheese recipe called for 2 large bags of cheddar cheese, 1 medium jar of Cheese Whiz and a little bit of evaporated milk. Ha. I recently made it my mission to find a recipe to make baked macaroni and cheese like my grandmother. You will not be disappointed.

Southern Baked Macaroni and Cheese
Total time: 1 hour
Servings: 12

Ingredients:

• 16 ounces elbow macaroni (gluten free optional)
• 1/2 cup whole milk
• 1 can (12 ounces) evaporated milk
• 2 eggs
• 1 1/2 teaspoons white pepper
• 1/2 teaspoons sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 stick (1/2 cup) butter, cut into small pieces
• 2 tablespoons sour cream
• 1/2 pound Velveeta cut into small pieces
• 8 ounces Colby Jack cheese, shredded
• 4 ounces sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
• 1 cup shredded mild cheddar cheese

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 F.
2. Boil water in a large pot to cook the macaroni. Cook the macaroni just shy of al dente, according to directions (undercook a little so that the macaroni does not turn to mush when cooking longer in the oven). Drain well and put into a baking dish – I use a casserole dish that is larger than a 9×13 pan.
3. Whisk together the whole milk, evaporated milk, eggs, salt, pepper, and sugar in the same pasta pot (why dirty another bowl or pot?). Pour mixture over cooked macaroni in baking dish.
4. Add butter, sour cream, Velveeta, Colby Jack and sharp cheddar cheeses to the baking dish. Stir until combined and top with the mild cheddar cheese.
5. Bake 35 to 40 minutes until bubbly and lightly browned on top. Let rest 10 minutes before serving.

Notes:
Wheat pasta is usually packaged in 16 ounce boxes. Gluten free pasta is usually packaged in 12 ounce boxes. I used 1 1/3 boxes of gluten free pasta for this recipe.

Penne pasta can be substituted for elbow macaroni pasta.
If 2% milk is substituted for whole milk, the consistency of the casserole may change.
8 ounces of Colby Jack cheese is more than 1 cup! Purchase a block of cheese to grate/ shred. I purchased a 12 ounce block and used 8 ounces of that block to shred.

If substitutions are made in the type of cheeses, the consistency of the casserole may change. Some cheeses are creamier than other cheeses. I must admit that I substitute additional sharp cheddar cheese for the mild cheddar cheese for the top because I don’t like purchasing 3 different cheeses!

This recipe has been adapted from a recipe by MawMaw and thehungrybluebird.com.