Thurdsday Night Dinner- Mac and Cheese

Well, really it was whole wheat spaghetti with a cheese sauce and peas and ham. Make the sauce while the spaghetti cooks, and voila, dinner in under 30 minutes.

• Put water on to boil for spaghetti, add salt
• Chop a few slices of ham, grate 2 TBS Locattelli Romano or 1/3 cup soft cheese like Swiss, Jack, cheddar for the sauce
• in sauce pan, melt 2 TBS butter on medium heat
• add 2TBS flour to melted butter and whisk until completely blended. Cook for 3 minutes stirring constantly until the mix thickens and flour no longer tastes raw
• add 1 cup milk a bit at a time whisking between adding to make a smooth paste, then a smooth thick sauce. Add enough milk to make a slightly thick sauce- the cheese will thicken it further.
• Water should be boiling so add the spaghetti, set timer for 10 minutes.
• Into sauce, whisk in 2 to 3TBS grated Locattelli brand Romano cheese. This brand usually melts in completely; other brands remain gritty. Salt to taste. Add other seasonings such as nutmeg, mustard, pepper, chili pepper seeds, oregano depending on the cheese used and your tastes.
• By this point the spaghetti is almost cooked. Add some snow peas to the water to heat through.
• Drain pasta and peas, mix into the sauce, add some chopped ham and serve to kudos.

Notes

I find milk and cheese sauces to be a bit heavy in flavor. A drop of hot sauce or mustand seems to cut the milkyness, but not everyone here agrees.

You can put this mix into an oven safe casserole dish, top with additional cheese and bake the next day. We never seem to have enough left over for that.

Pennsylvania style Dutch egg noodles cook even faster- 5 minutes tops.