Best Homemade Macaroni and Cheese
This is a homestyle macaroni and cheese that all will love!
Ingredients
- 12 oz Cellentani pasta, rigatoni or macaroni (tubed pastas)
- 6 ounces cheddar cheese block of slices
- 1 tsp salt
- white pepper (optional)
- 1 tsp panko bread crumbs
Instructions
- Cook pasta al dente (or soft to preference), usually about 20 minutes on medium heat.
- Drain and pour 1/3 cooked pasta into baking pan.
- Add a layer of cheese.
- Do steps 2 and 3 two more times on the top 1/3 layer and at the top layer of the pan. Add bread crumbs to top if adding.
- Set on top oven shelf leaving top of pan about 4-6 inches away from the top of the oven broil heating element.
- Close oven door. Turn on broil setting and oven light and watch for a couple minutes. When the top layer starts to have burnt spots, watch for a few more seconds and then turn the oven off. Wait until oven heat cools down for about a minute or more before pulling out of the oven, as broiling heat is very hot (e.g. 525°F).
- Optional: For a healthy, low-calorie and dairy-free version of this recipe with a bit of a umami taste: use nutritional yeast healthy "cheese" flavoring that's high in fiber (helpful for losing weight), some essential B-vitamins and minerals that affect metabolism, growth, and so much more. It has a umami cheese taste that's perfect. Note: the cheese won't melt like regular cheese you would buy at the store. It has a powdery, slightly melted texture. For the burnt top cheese effect, use just one layer of regular cheese.