Macaroni Oven Bake

Ok, so while I was making macaroni soup yesterday, I spotted a recipe on the back of the macaroni bag that looked good.  I browsed through the ingredients what were required and found I had all inhouse.... with exception of an onion, however I did have onion powder, and that worked just as well!

Anyway, I had made a mac and cheese bake before, and that recipe I copied from a website that belongs to one of these fancy gourmet chefs.... you know.... the ones who know this kinda stuff. lol.   Well, that mac and cheese was very good, don't get me wrong, but the one that was listed on the back of thise 2 for $3 bag of Safeway macaroni blew that gourmet mac'n cheese away!

Anyway, here it is.... the recipe.  Highly recommended, it's so smooth and tasty, but be warned, it certainly isn't a diet food.

1 pound Elbow Macaroni
1/2 cup minced onion (or 1/2 tablespoon onion powder, in my case)
1/2 cup margarine or butter
4 tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon salt
4 cups milk
3 cups shredded cheddar cheese
Buttered bread crumbs

1. Cook the macaroni per instructions on the bag
2. Sautee the onion and the butter

Here comes the tricky part.... the sauce:

3. Add the flour to the butter, and whisk it around until it is smooth
4. Add the milk to the pot.  You will want to add the milk a little drop at a time in order to avoid getting the sauce lumpy.   Just add a small amount of milk, then mix it in with the butter/flour mix until it's smooth.  Keep repeating this, adding small amounts of milk to the mixture until the mixture is thinner, at which point you can pour in the rest of the milk.
5. Let the sauce simmer until it thickens while constantly stirring, and mind the pot as well... Since this is a milkbased sauce, it will boil over very quickly if you turn your back so just keep watching and stirring.
6. Once sauce thickens, add the cheese
7. Add the macaroni, fold it into the sauce mixture and stir it well.
8. Butter a pan (or spray with Pam, which I prefer) and pour macaroni mix into the pan.
9. Sprinkle with buttered bread crumbs.  (I use a can of premade breadcrumbs, which I sautee in a small amount of butter and sprinkle on top).
10. Bake for 25 minutes on 350 F
11. Serve up and eat! :-)

A photo of the finished macaroni oven bake!

And now, no more macaroni for awhile :-) I promise the macaroni fever has died down (and to those who asked, no I'm not pregnant, that is not the cause of my latest macaroni frenzy lol....)

In fact, starting Monday, it's dieting galore so I hope I'll be inspired to cook some healthier foods to keep dieting interesting.