Patti LaBelle’s Mac and Cheese

Enjoy a twofer today: two recipes for macaroni and cheese!

Now this is my all-time favorite macaroni and cheese recipe… and with good reason! It costs like… $25 to make this dish from scratch, but Good Lord… is it worth it! The recipe is available all over the Internet and is usually attributed to singer Patti LaBelle. I don’t know if that’s true or not, but I don’t care… It’s just good!

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 pound elbow macaroni
8 tablespoons (1 stick) plus 1 tablespoon butter
1/2 cup (2 ounces) shredded Muenster cheese
1/2 cup (2 ounces) shredded mild Cheddar cheese
1/2 cup (2 ounces) shredded sharp Cheddar cheese
1/2 cup (2 ounces) shredded Monterey Jack
2 cups half-and-half
1 cup (8 ounces) Velveeta, cut into small cubes
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1/4 teaspoon seasoned salt
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Hardware:

1 2-quart casserole dish (deep)
1 large pot
1 large saucepan
1 large bowl
1 colander or strainer
Cooking spray or butter

1) Preheat the oven to 350° F. Lightly butter or spray a deep 2 1/2-quart casserole.

2) Bring the large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the oil, then the elbow macaroni, and cook until the macaroni is just tender, about 7 minutes. Do not overcook. Drain well. Return to the cooking pot.

3) In a small saucepan, melt eight tablespoons of the butter. Stir into the macaroni.

4) In a large bowl, mix the Muenster, mild and sharp Cheddar, and Monterey Jack cheeses.

5) To the macaroni, add the half-and-half, 1 1/2 cups of the shredded cheese mixture, the cubed Velveeta and the eggs. Season with salt and pepper. Transfer to the buttered casserole.

6) Sprinkle with the remaining 1/2-cup of shredded cheese and dot with the remaining one tablespoon of butter.

7) Bake until it’s bubbling around the edges, about 35 minutes.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.