My Grandma's Baked Mac and Cheese

Every holiday or birthday when my Grandmother was still alive it was a tradition, she would ask us "What do you want me to make for "such and such" and without fail we would always answer "baked mac and cheese, baked mac and cheese!!"

You have to understand that her baked macaroni and cheese isn't like Stouffer's or Velveeta or some crap like that (I apologize if you like it, but seriously, my Grandma's mac and cheese is like something sent from the cheesy, starchy heavens).

She also cooked enough for an army, which is I suppose, where I get it from. If you Google baked mac and cheese you get many images of yummy looking dishes in "small" casserole dishes or even ramekins!

Pft, ramekins. That's for amateurs. When my Grandma made baked mac, she made it in a 7-8 qt. cast iron dutch oven. 3 POUNDS of pasta folks. That's how it's done....and let me tell you, she made the best damn mac and cheese ever. 

The worst thing about trying to get the recipe from a Grandma is that they never write anything down....or measure anything, have you noticed that?

"Oh, I just throw a little of this and a little of that until it tastes right!" 

Thanks Grandma....that's helpful to your 15 year old granddaughter who can't cook worth a damn....Luckily,  your now 29 year old granddaughter has learned a few things and figured out the secrets of the internet and finding recipes with all the components of your original recipe and how she remembers you making and thus, can now replicate your AMAZING mac and cheese for the masses!

Before I could replicate said amazingness however....I had to get the right baking dishes. So, I went on a shopping trip for a 7.5 qt cast iron dutch oven.

Like this, but red!

She is a thing of beauty, and makes juuuuust the right amount of ooey gooey mac and cheese. However, if you're a normal person, making normal proportions and not feeding an army of hungry people and wanting leftovers for over a week....a casserole dish will work just fine :)

I could just die of happiness, right here, right now.

Ingredients:

1 (8 ounce) package macaroni

4 tablespoons butter

4 tablespoons flour

1 cup milk

1 cup cream

1/2 teaspoon salt

fresh ground black pepper, to taste

2 cups cheddar cheese, shredded good quality

1/2 cup breadcrumbs, buttered

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400°F.
2. Cook and drain macaroni according to package directions; set aside.
3. In a large saucepan melt butter.
4. Add flour mixed with salt and pepper, using a whisk to stir until well blended.
5. Pour milk and cream in gradually; stirring constantly.
6. Bring to boiling point and boil 2 minutes (stirring constantly).
7. Reduce heat and cook (stirring constantly) 10 minutes.
8 .Add shredded cheddar little by little and simmer an additional 5 minutes, or until cheese melts.
9. Turn off flame.
10. Add macaroni to the saucepan and toss to coat with the cheese sauce.
11. Transfer macaroni to a buttered baking dish.
12. Sprinkle with breadcrumbs.
13. Bake 20 minutes until the top is golden brown.

Changes/Alterations: My only changes are that for my bread crumbs I use Panko bread crumbs which I toast with butter in a frying pan until golden brown before step 12. Also, while using cream makes it oh so deliciously creamy...holy heart attack waiting to happen! I replace the whole milk and cream with straight up 2% milk and it's still amazing. Yum! This recipe is for 4 servings. If you are like me, quadruple all ingredients to feed an army with leftovers. 

Holy Smokes I Actually Made Pasta

With my bare hands, because I don't currently have one of those fancy pasta roller attachments for Black Betty. Who is Black Betty, you might ask? Well, besides being this really awesome song, Black Betty happens to be the hardest working member of the Geeky family and the source of ongoing joke between Geeky Dude and myself.  Whenever she is mentioned,the conversation always ends in each of us racing to say "Bam-Ba-Lam!" Oh yes, we're that couple.

Black Betty does love her accessories, however not as much as Geeky Girl loves her shoes, so therefore she remains pasta roller attachment-less. I'm a bad Kitchen Aid mother. As a punishment, I get to roll out my own pasta dough, which honestly folks, and pardon my French here, is a real pain in the arse. 

But, you didn't come here to read about my amazing shoe collection addiction..... so, without further adieu, please enjoy this AMAZING recipe for ravioli! It's seriously going to rock your socks off.

Pumpkin Ravioli in a Rosemary and Thyme Brown Butter Sauce

Pasta Dough

5 eggs

1 tablespoon of salt

1 tablespoon of olive oil 

3 cups of all-purpose flour

Simple Pumpkin Filling

1 can of pumpkin
1 cup of Pecorino {or Ricotta which is what I used}
2 Teaspoons of Nutmeg
1 Teaspoon Cinnamon
1 Teaspoon of Rubbed Sage
1 Teaspoon Thyme
1 dash of salt and pepper

Rosemary and Thyme Brown Butter Sauce


4 Tablespoons of butter
Rosemary 
Thyme 

In a small bowl, beat the eggs, salt and olive oil. In a large bowl, place the flour and pour in the egg mixture. Stir with a fork and fold together until all of the egg mixture is absorbed and the dough forms into a sticky ball.  Flour your hands and divide the dough into 3 separate ones. Knead each dough a bit to form it into a ball. Cover each in cellophane and refrigerate for a few hours.

While the pasta dough is chilling, prepare you pumpkin filling by thoroughly mixing together all ingredients. Set aside.

Roll out the ball of dough as flat/thin as you can get it. I cut mine into circles using a cookie cutter but you could do squares as well with a knife or ravioli cutter. 

After you've cut the dough into whatever shape you choose, roll each ravioli a little bit before scooping on a small dollop of pumpkin mixture. Place another square or circle (depending on what shape you chose) on top, and using a fork, press the two pieces of dough together at the edges, which creates a pretty border.

Once you've assembling your masterpieces, place them in a pot of well salted boiling water until they rise to the top. About 3-4 minutes....or 10-15 if you didn't roll out your dough thin enough. Drain them (carefully!) in a colander.

Melt 4 tablespoons of butter. Just before it starts to brown, add fresh rosemary and thyme leaves, stirring until the butter slightly browns. Pour over raviolis, admire your homemade works of  art, and then devour.

**Notes and Alterations** Holy smokes, I was worried about this recipe because I tried a ravioli before putting on the sauce and honestly it wasn't super. It kind of tasted like pumpkin pie got confused and lost inside a ravioli shell....but then, then we made this amazing savory browned butter and oh my holy browned buttery goodness. I will most definitely make this again....sadly probably this week because that easy pumpkin filling makes twice what is needed for what the pasta dough makes for ravioli shells and Geeky Dude pretty much inhaled it.  

Next time, I'd like to use fresh squash, butternut would be amazing. I didn't have fresh herbs because it's winter (okay technically Spring now, but there is still several feet of snow on the ground and my herbs are not happy and growing outside yet) so I used dried herbs. I can't even begin to imagine how much more amazing this would be with fresh rosemary and thyme browned butter.