Old-Fashioned Mac and Cheese

Macaroni and cheese is the ultimate comfort food. In a slow cooker, chunks of cheese can be laced between the layers of noodles, allowing the cheese to melt slowly during the cooking process, giving you more of its cheesy, oozy goodness. The template for macaroni and cheese is simple: a creamy white sauce, plenty of cheese, and any small pasta, such as shells or tiny rigatoni, if you don’t have elbow macaroni on hand. Variations happen when you substitute cheese and add other ingredients that your family enjoys—so have fun with this one. If your children absolutely won’t eat a mac and cheese that doesn’t have that Day-Glo orange color, the King Arthur Flour Web site sells powdered cheese for just that effect! The entire casserole can be assembled in a slow-cooker liner and then refrigerated or frozen for later use. Before cooking, defrost the frozen casserole overnight in the refrigerator, bringing it up to room temperature for 45 minutes, and you will be on your way to slow-cooked comfort.

Ingredients

• 4 tablespoons (½ stick) unsalted butter
• 1 small onion or shallot, finely chopped (about ¼ cup, see savvy)
• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1½ cups chicken broth
• 1½ cups milk
• 4 drops Tabasco sauce
• 5 cups finely shredded mild yellow and sharp white Cheddar cheese, plus extra to top
• 6 cups elbow macaroni, cooked just short of al dente (see savvy)
• ½ cup crushed buttery crackers such as Ritz or Pepperidge Farm Golden Butter Crackers
• coat the insert of a 5- to 7-quart slow cooker with nonstick cooking spray or line it with a slow-cooker liner according to the manufacturer’s directions.

Instructions

melt the butter in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the onion and sauté until the onion is softened, about 2 minutes. Stir in the flour, and cook for 2 to 3 minutes, whisking constantly. 

Gradually add the broth and milk and bring the sauce to a boil, whisking constantly.

add the Tabasco and remove the sauce from the heat. Add 3 cups of the cheese to the sauce and stir to melt. Spread half the macaroni in the slow-cooker insert and pour half the sauce over the macaroni.

sprinkle 1 cup of the cheese over the layer. Repeat with the remaining macaroni and sauce and 1 cup of the cheese. Cover and cook for on low for 4 to 5 hours, until the mac and cheese is bubbling and cooked through.

sprinkle a little more cheese and the crackers over the top of the mac and cheese. Remove the cover and cook for an additional 30 minutes. Allow the mac and cheese to rest about 10 minutes.

serve in the cooker set on warm.

serves 6–8

BLUE CHEESE MAC AND CHEESE	follow the directions for the Old-Fashioned Mac and Cheese. add 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce with the Tabasco. substitute crumbled blue cheese for 3 cups of the Cheddar. Use half the blue cheese in the sauce and the rest between the layers and sprinkled on top. Proceed as directed.
SMOKY GOUDA MAC AND CHEESE	follow the directions for the Old-Fashioned Mac and Cheese. substitute 3 cups finely shredded smoked Gouda and 2 cups finely shredded Monterey Jack cheese for the Cheddar. combine the cheeses in a bowl and use them equally as directed in the sauce, between the layers, and on top. Proceed as directed.
MAC AND FOURCHEESE ITALIANO	follow the directions for the Old-Fashioned Mac and Cheese. substitute 1¼ cups each finely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano and pecorino romano, 1¼ cups fresh mozzarella, and 1¼ cup crumbled Gorgonzola for the Cheddar cheeses. use the Parmigiano and pecorino in the sauce and layer the mozzarella and Gorgonzola in between the layers and sprinkled on top. Proceed as directed.
APPLEWOOD SMOKED BACON, CARAMELIZED ONION, AND WHITE CHEDDAR MAC AND CHEESE	cook 8 strips of applewood smoked bacon in a large skillet over medium heat until crisp, remove it from the pan to drain, and crumble. caramelize 4 large sweet onions in a sauté pan with ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, 2 tablespoons olive oil, 1 tablespoon sugar, 1 teaspoon salt, and ½ teaspoon dried thyme until onions are golden, about 15 to 20 minutes. use all sharp white Cheddar for the cheese. Distribute the bacon and onions between the layers and proceed as directed.