Five (or Six) Cheese Macaroni and Cheese Recipe

If you count Colby-Jack cheese as two different cheeses, then this is a six cheese treat!

Five  (or Six) Cheese Macaroni and Cheese Recipe (total prep. time about an hour including baking)

2 Tbl. Butter

1 small onion, diced

2 Tbl. Flour

1 clove garlic, finely diced

4 C. milk

½ C. shredded Colby-Jack cheese

1 C. shredded sharp cheddar

1 American cheese slices, cut into strips

3 slices Asiago cheese, cut into strips

¼ C. shredded Parmesan cheese

¼ tsp. each ground mustard and ground nutmeg

1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper

A pinch each of salt and black pepper

1 box elbow macaroni

Bread crumbs

paprika

Preheat oven to 375. Bring pasta water to the boil while grating and slicing cheeses and dicing the onion and garlic. Once the knife work is done, over medium heat, melt butter in a saucepan. Add onions and cook until the onions are almost opaque then stir in the garlic. Continue to cook until the onions are tender being careful to not let the garlic brown.  Stir in flour and keep cooking and stirring until the roux just starts to brown. Slowly stir in the milk and add the mustard, nutmeg cayenne, salt and pepper.  When the sauce is smooth and thick enough to coat the back of a spoon, start stirring in the cheeses. As the cheese melts, the sauce will continue to thicken.  You may have to move the pan on and off the heat to keep it from burning on the bottom of the pot. When the pasta is barely al dente’, drain and return to the pasta pot and stir in sauce. It may look like a lot of sauce for the amount of pasta but the pasta will absorb some of the sauce during baking. Pour everything into a greased cake pan, top with the bread crumbs and sprinkle a little paprika over the top for color. Loosely cover with foil and bake on the center rack for about 25 minutes until the casserole is bubbling. Remove foil and move to the top rack and bake another five to ten minutes until the topping is golden brown. Let stand for a few minutes to set before serving.