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How do you make the perfect mac and cheese?
Try this recipe
Neil’s Kreamy Krafty Mac N’ Cheese with Sausage (Updated November 2020)
(Yields about 8-9 dinner servings)
Ingredients
1 Lb. Orecchiette pasta or Large elbow pasta
1 Can Campbell’s Cheddar Cheese condensed soup (10 ¾ OZ.)
1/2 soup can of Heavy Cream (about ¾ cup)
½ to ¾ Cup Kraft Mexican Four Cheese finely shredded cheese
½ Cup “DiGiorno Three Cheese”
Or, if you want to buy all the cheeses separately:
¼ Cup Monterey Jack cheese
¼ Cup Cheddar cheese
¼ Cup Queso Quesadilla cheese
¼ Cup shredded Parmesan cheese
¼ Cup Romano cheese
¼ Cup Asiago cheese
½ Cup Velveeta cheese (cut into ¾” cubes)
4 Oz. Cream Cheese
1/2 tsp. Garlic salt
¼ tsp. Ground Mustard
1Tbs. Unsalted Butter
Salt and pepper to taste, about; 1/4 tsp. salt ½ tsp. pepper
1 Lb. Smoked sausage (cut into ½” disks, then cut into fourths)
Directions
1. Cut sausage into ½ inch thick disks then cut into fourths (like four little “pie pieces” per disk). Heat skillet to medium/High lightly brown sausage. Remove from heat, drain fat and set aside.
2. In a large saucepan over medium heat, combine condensed soup, cheddar cheese plus the heavy cream. When warmed through, add all other cheeses except the Velveeta and cream cheese, stirring to melt and keep from burning (lower heat if necessary). When all the other cheese has melted, add the Velveeta and cream cheese, stir until melted.
3. Add garlic salt, ground mustard, salt and pepper. Keep cheese sauce on low heat to keep warm while you prepare the pasta (but keep an eye on it so it doesn’t burn).
4. Cook pasta to manufacturer’s directions, drain, return pasta to pot and pour in cheese sauce, add sausage, stir and serve!
This is a creamy style Mac ‘N Cheese made on the stovetop however, if you wish to bake cheese and crumb topping, add the finished stove top Mac ‘N Cheese to a suitable baking dish, and about a ¼ cup of the Mexican cheese to the top. Then, in a small skillet, melt about 1 Tablespoon of butter over medium heat, add breadcrumbs…toast for a minute or so and then sprinkle over the Mac ‘N Cheese and broil for a minute or two in the oven until the new cheese is melted.
Easy Microwave bechamel
2 Tbs AP Flour
8.5 oz milk
1 ¼ Tbs Butter
In a microwave-safe bowl, melt butter for 1 minute in the microwave.
Add the flour to the melted butter and mix with a spoon until combined.
In a saucepan, boil the milk then slowly pour into the butter mixture. Stir to combine. Season with salt and pepper.
Return the bowl to the microwave and cook for 1 minute. Remove the bowl from the microwave and whisk well to finish.
Take a listen
Photo Credit- Getty Images