Martha Stewart's Macaroni and Cheese

While preparing for my son's birthday party in June, I wanted to find recipes that I could make in advance to cut back on the amount of time the day of the party.  Searching for a fabulous Macaroni and Cheese recipe that could be frozen I came across this recipe on Smitten Kitchen.  I generally glance through comments, but I was reading these fully, and came across a few that froze it with good success.  This recipe feeds 12, so I intially tried a half batch.  Six servings is still big for 2 and a half people eating it (Ty was still just starting table foods at the time), I actually made 2 quarter batches essentially!  One I baked immediately, and another I froze for a week, thawed overnight and baked a few minutes longer than the "fresh" pasta.

The fresh macaroni was fantastic.  Out of this world amazing, and I immediately declared it my new favorite, go-to baked macaroni and cheese dish.  Because it was that good, I was afraid of what the next week would yield, but I was very happy to bite in to another delicious dish!  While there were a few small differences, nothing that would sway me away from making this recipe to freeze.

I ended up making this recipe for Ty's birthday party and it was a huge success.  I'm so glad it froze well, because with 50 people I needed to make a few!

Martha Stewart's Macaroni and Cheese
Ingredients:

• 1 stick unsalted butter, plus more for casserole
• 4 slices Asiago Cheese Demi bread, crusts removed, from Panera Bread, cut or torn in to 1/4- to 1/2" pieces
• 5 1/2 cups milk
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons coarse salt, plus more for water
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 4 1/2 cups (about 18 ounces) grated sharp white cheddar cheese
• 1 1/4 cups (about 5 ounces) grated Pecorino Romano cheese
• 1 pound elbow macaroni, shells, or other small pasta shape

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Butter a 3-qt. casserole dish; set aside.  Place the bread in a medium bowl.  In a small saucepan over medium heat, melt 2 tablespoons butter.   Pour the melted butter into the bowl with the bread and toss.  Set the bread aside.
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• Warm the milk in a medium saucepan over medium heat.  Melt the remaining 6 tablespoons butter in a high-sided skillet over medium heat.  When the butter bubbles, add the flour.  Cook, stirring, 1 minute.
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• While whisking, slowly pour warmed milk a little at a time to keep the mixture smooth.  Continue cooking, whisking constantly, until the mixture bubbles and becomes thick, 8 to 12 minutes.
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• Remove the pan from the heat.  Stir in salt, nutmeg, black pepper, cayenne pepper, 3 cups cheddar cheese, and 1 cup Pecorino Romano cheese.  Set the cheese sauce aside.
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• Cover a large pot of salted water, and bring to a boil.  Cook the pasta until the outside is cooked and the inside is underdone, about 3 minutes.  Transfer the macaroni to a colander, rinse under cold running water, and drain well.  Stir the pasta into the reserved cheese sauce.
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• Pour the mixture into the prepared dish.  Sprinkle the remaining 1 1/2 cups cheddar and 1/4 cup Pecorino Romano, and the bread over the top.  Bake until golden brown, about 30 - 40 minutes.  Transfer the dish to a wire rack for 5 minutes; serve.

Source: Slightly adapted from Smitten Kitchen, as adapted from The Martha Stewart Living Cookbook: The Original Classics