It seemed rather urgent last weekend when I found a fantastic vintage Anchor Hocking casserole dish at a yard sale that I go home quickly and bake something in it. It was all I could do to figure out what I wanted to make and then I remembered about a month ago, while visiting my family, my sister and I baked a macaroni and cheese casserole from a recipe out of the church cookbook (thanks, Joyce! It was your recipe).
So - with a few tweaks, I re-vamped the recipe and wound up with a wonderfully cheesy dish - IN my new dish.
The recipe is simple enough -
2 cups macaroni, cooked and drained (I used large macaroni)
3 cups cheese - the original recipe wasn't specific on what kind, so I used two cups of sharp cheddar and one cup of mozzarella
1/4 cup of butter
1/4 cup of flour
2 cups of milk
1/2 onion (another tweak of mine - the original didn't call for onion)
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
Saute the onion in butter until translucent and cooked through - I like mine chopped fine - it melts right into the dish.
Add 1/4 cup of butter to the pan with the onions and when melted, add the flour and mix well. Once incorporated you should have a thick paste - at this point, add the milk and bring to a simmer until it thickens enough to coat a spoon.
Add the cheese to the sauce and melt, leaving a handful to sprinkle over the casserole later.
Pour the macaroni into a 2 quart casserole (If you have a fantastic one like mine, use it!) and pour the sauce evenly over the macaroni. Sprinkle remaining cheese over the top - I also grated some asiago cheese over it before I put it in the oven for a little nutty flavor.
Bake at 400 degrees until bubbly and the top begins to brown - remove from the oven and rest for a good 30 minutes to allow the sauce to thicken up and become a TASTY, cheesy dish - perfect by itself OR as a side.
