Despite drinking loads of tea I got sick. I don’t know about you but when I get sick I’m not super hungry, but hey a girl has gotta eat. So what better way to entice my fickle stomach than with some comfort food. Homemade Mac ‘n’ Cheese please!

This is a recipe I got from my momma

You wanna start out with a big pot of water and get it heating up

While the water is heating up start on your roux (which by definition is an equal parts flour and fat of choice mixture used to thicken sauces) my fat of choice today is butter.

2 tablespoons of butter means 2 tablespoons of flour!

Start mixing your roux

Once it reaches a tan color you wanna add your milk. Add a 1/2 at a time, allowing the milk to thicken each time. Basically you are gonna add 6 one half cups, don’t lose count like I almost did!

For that kick, add your pepper to taste now

What is mac ‘n’ cheese with out the cheese?! I decided to do 3 cheeses: Sharp Cheddar, Swiss, and Parmesan. Because it’s practically in my blood I used about 2 1/2 cups of Cheddar, 2 1/2 cups Swiss, and 1/4 cup of the Parm – all freshly grated.

Like the cheese, noodle selection is up to you, my only suggestion is that you pick noodles that the cheese can stick to so curly noodles or noodles with holes or scoops work best. Check out this handy list when choosing! I again decided to do it in 3’s so Rotini and Fusilli came to the rescue.

AND WHO COULD FORGET ABOUT BOW TIE PASTA?! (formally known as Farfalle)

You can add your delicious carbs when your water comes to a rolling boil like this

Now, like the milk, don’t add your cheese all at once. Mix in generous handfuls at a time – doesn’t matter what cheese you start with!

Once you add it all and depending on the cheeses your sauce should start looking like this. Regardless of the cheese though it should look smooth and creamy.

Check your pasta and make sure it done. If its not, turn your sauce heat down to low because you don’t want to scald the bottom. When the pasta is done, return it to the pot, give your cheese one last stir and start pouring.

I have found that folding the sauce in rather than just stirring the two together works better and does minimal damage to your sweet little noodles.

YUM YUM

IT’S FINALLY DONE

Though my sickness isn’t cured just yet, this comfort food certainly helped.