Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Alton Brown's Baked Macaroni


Image and recipe taken from Food Network.

Alton Brown, once again you are my hero... This is by far the best Macaroni recipe ever. The Panko bread crumbs make all of the difference. Enjoy, and do try to save some, as Alton suggests at the bottom of the recipe.

This one is a classic, and the only competition that comes close is Sunny Anderson's Spicy Macaroni and Cheese.

Ingredients:
  • 1/2 pound elbow macaroni
  • 3 tablespoons butter
  • 3 tablespoons flour
  • 1 tablespoon powdered mustard
  • 3 cups milk
  • 1/2 cup yellow onion, finely diced
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1/2 teaspoon paprika
  • 1 large egg
  • 12 ounces sharp cheddar, shredded
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
  • Fresh black pepper
  • 3 tablespoons butter (for topping)
  • 1 cup panko bread crumbs (for topping)
Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a large pot of boiling, salted water cook the pasta to al dente.

While the pasta is cooking, in a separate pot, melt the butter. Whisk in the flour and mustard and keep it moving for about five minutes. Make sure it's free of lumps. Stir in the milk, onion, bay leaf, and paprika. Simmer for ten minutes and remove the bay leaf.

Temper in the egg. Stir in 3/4 of the cheese. Season with salt and pepper. Fold the macaroni into the mix and pour into a 2-quart casserole dish. Top with remaining cheese.

Melt the butter in a saute pan and toss the bread crumbs to coat. Top the macaroni with the bread crumbs. Bake for 30 minutes. Remove from oven and rest for five minutes before serving.

Remember to save leftovers for fried Macaroni and Cheese.

12 comments:

  1. That Alton really knows what he is doing! This looks amazing!

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  2. They serve something like this at college! It's the best!
    -The Freshman

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  3. That looks amazing, there's nothing more comforting than a big bowl of Mac & Cheese. I like the addition of bay leaf and paprika. Thanks for sharing his recipe!

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  4. Thanks for posting this recipe, I'm going to try making it with whole wheat macaroni and healthy it up a little bit and see how it goes for my son's first intro to mac and cheese (and a great big bowl for me too!)

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  6. Panko makes a world of difference- with something as classic as mac and cheese, little things go a long way!

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  8. It's 9:23 in the morning and I'm drooling.

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  9. Yum. I love Alton Brown and I love Panko bread crumbs. Looks like I need to give this recipe a try.

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