Crock pot macaroni and cheese
The cheesy creaminess of macaroni and cheese is one of those comfort foods I want to eat on a rainy or cold day. This past weekend we had one of those days around here. Making macaroni and cheese from scratch is time consuming but making it in a crock pot makes life easier.
I have experimented with many recipes for macaroni and cheese trying to match the flavor of the “boxed kind” that my kids crave. And I think I’ve gotten it pretty close.
As we all know, pasta is an Italian invention and so is macaroni and cheese. The American version of macaroni and cheese is credited to have been conceived by Thomas Jefferson’s daughter, Mary Randolph. Later in the late 1930’s, it was put in a box by the Kraft Company.
Even though you are making this recipe in a crock pot, it does take some monitoring from time to time just to make sure the ingredients are incorporated well and that it’s not cooking too fast.
Ingredients:
1 16 oz. box of Macaroni pasta
1 ½ cups of milk
1 12 oz. can of evaporated milk
4 cups of sharp cheddar cheese
4 oz. of cream cheese (room temperature)
½ cup of parmesan cheese
3 tablespoon of butter (room temperature)
1/8 teaspoon of grated nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon of onion powder
1/8 teaspoon of white pepper (black is fine too)
1/8 teaspoon of paprika
Salt and Pepper to taste
Instructions:
In crockpot mix together butter, cream cheese, milk, evaporated milk, and spices. Make sure your cream cheese is well incorporated and there are no lumps.
Add sharp cheddar and parmesan cheese and the uncooked macaroni pasta and stir.
Set heat to low and cook for 2 hours or until macaroni is cooked al dente. Time will vary more or less depending on your crock pot.
Once pasta is done, if consistency is still too watery, turn heat to high for 5 minutes.
Stir occasionally.
Tip: Overcooking pasta can make everything turn to mush.
