Mac 'n Cheese, please!

Hello there! I will also introduce myself: my name is Lindsey. I love chocolate (like, love love), and just food in general (duh). I love to cook and bake although recently I have been too tired from work to do much of it (lame excuse, I know). But when I'm really compelled by a recipe or idea I do it. I make it. And I love to!

I'm the kind of person who has a lot of internet tabs open all the time--I don't know why--it just happens. Like how clothes keep piling up on my floor (I swear it wasn't me) and how'd my desk get so messy? I just seem to have this habit of compiling things until the point of me getting really frustrated that I've compiled all those things and uggghh I gotta clean shit up. So. Here's what I do: I clean shit up (-ish). And I do that with my internet tabs too. When you have Stumble Upon it's way too easy to find all these interesting sites, and since I don't have time to look at them right away: I save that tab, open up a new one, etc. etc. They all collect atop my browser, and once I realize that I have to scroll right or left on my tab bar, well, that's when I know it's time to look and see what I've gotten myself into. And now I know it's too late to say "long story short" but it still sounds good, so: long story short, one of my saved tabs was a blog that had a macaroni and cheese recipe.

I felt my calling. It was time to pursue my (immediate future) destiny.

The result was pretty tasty.

I manipulated the original recipe to fit my needs/wants/what I had in my fridge. I feel like you can do that with almost any recipe, and that way you put your own personal spin on things. Don't be afraid! Here's how it goes:

Servings: 3-4 in 8x8 dish, double ingredients for 13x9

Ingredients

• 2 cups rotini (or similar pasta)
• 4 Tbsp butter (Salted Butter)
• 1-2 whole medium onions (depending on how onion-y you like it), cut in half and sliced thin
• 5-7 slices prosciutto or pancetta
• 1/8 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 cup non-fat milk
• 1/4 cup half-and-half
• 1 whole egg yolk, beaten
• salt n pepa, to taste
• 1 cup-ish of Quattro Formaggio cheese blend from Trader Joe's (parmesan, asiago, fontina, provolone) -OR- 1 cup-ish of similar cheese(s)
• Bread crumbs (optional)

Preparation instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Cook macaroni for half the time of the package instructions. Drain and set aside.

Fry prosciutto/pancetta until slightly, but not overly, crispy. Set aside.

Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a skillet and then saute onions over medium-low heat for 10 to 12 minutes, or until golden brown and soft. Set aside.

In a pot, melt 2 tablespoons butter. Sprinkle in flour and whisk to combine. Cook, stirring constantly, over medium heat for 1 minute. Pour in milk and half & half, then cook for 3 to 5 minutes or until thick. Reduce heat to low. Add salt & pepper to taste.

Beat egg yolk and drizzle 1/4 cup hot mixture into the yolks, stirring constantly. Stir to combine. Pour egg mixture into sauce and cook for another minute.

Add cheeses and stir until melted. Add onions and prosciutto/pancetta and stir. Taste for seasonings and add more salt if needed. Add cooked rotini pasta and stir to coat.

Pour into an 8x8 baking dish, sprinkle bread crumbs on top if you want (I didn't do this, although it would probably be delicious!). Bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until sizzling and hot. Serve with vegetables so you don't feel too guilty. I threw some raw spinach in my bowl and mixed it in with the mac 'n cheese.

So good. So. Good.