Delicious Mac and Cheese

So for the first time in a long time it's girls night at casa de Katy tonight! In preparation, I've been cooking and baking all day, but by far my favorite thing I made was this delicious panko breaded macaroni and cheese as seen on this episode of Food With Dottie by one of my favorite YouTubers, Datev Gallagher. The recipe itself sounds somewhat complicated but it's so easy!

What you'll need:

• 1 and 1/2 boxes of pasta (I like rotini because the ridges hold the cheese very nicely)
• 1 stick of butter
• 4 cups of shredded swiss cheese
• 2 cups of shredded sharp cheddar cheese
• 2 cups of panko bread crumbs
• 1/2 cup of flour
• 1 quart of milk

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

To start out, melt 1-2 teaspoon of the stick of butter in a saucepan.  Once the butter is melted completely, add in the two cups of breadcrumbs, coating them in the melted butter. Then, remove them from the heat and set them aside.

Boil the 1 and 1/2 boxes of pasta and strain the noodles. 

In a large pot on medium heat, melt the remaining butter. Add in the 1/2 cup of flour, stirring constantly. Pour in the quart of milk (4 cups) and stir until there are no clumps of flour and butter left. Once completely dissolved, add in the cheese. I use pre shredded cheese from the grocery store to make things easier, and continue to stir until the cheese is melted completely.

Fill a large casserole pan with the strained noodles and pour the cheese sauce evenly over them. I had to stir the noodles around a little bit with a wooden spoon to get them all evenly coated. Finally, add the panko bread crumbs on top, not too thick. 

Bake in the oven at 375 degrees for about 30 minutes and enjoy! If the sides of your casserole dish are lower like mine, the cheese may bubble over a bit so it might be smart to put a cookie sheet on a lower rack of the oven if you can. What are y'alls favorite mac and cheese recipes?

Xoxo, Katy