My whole family could live on my Baked Macarroni and Cheese recipe. In fact, the first time I made it the kids weren’t home and the HH and I scarfed down an entire 9×13 pan without them. Oops. So of course when I was looking for ways to use up my leftover ham from Christmas, this recipe came to mind. I can’t even believe I’m saying this, but it makes that recipe even yummier. I didn’t even think that was possible.
Crumb Topping
1 sleeve Ritz crackers, crushed
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
Pasta and Cheese
1 lb elbow macaroni or penne noodles
2 cups chopped ham
5 tablespoons unsalted butter
5 tablespoons unbleached all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons dry mustard
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
4 cups milk
6 ounces Monterey jack cheese, shredded
6 ounces sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
Directions
For the crumb topping
Toss the crushed Ritz crackers with the melted butter until thoroughly coated and set aside.
For the Macaroni and cheese:
In a large pot, boil 4 quarts of water. Cook the pasta using package direction until tender, drain and set aside.
Melt 5 tablespoons butter over medium heat in a large saucepan. Mix in the flour, mustard, and cayenne and whisk for 1 minute or until smooth. Pour milk in slowly, whisking constantly until all lumps are stirred out.
Bring to a boil and reduce heat to a simmer. Continue whisking for 3 minutes or until the sauce is thick.
Remove from the heat and stir in shredded cheese until melted. Gently fold in noodles.
Pour noodle mixture into a 9×13 casserole dish and cover with crumb topping.
Broil in oven until bread topping is golden brown. Serve warm.
Mari says
Happy Silly season to you and your family Mavis. I hope your weather is being kind to you.
Another way of using up excess chicken or turkey is to toss it in seasoning – Tuscan, Moroccan or Cajun to taste, then fry it in butter or oil until a little crispy on outside. This give more pizzazz to the chicken, then add to macaroni cheese. This can also be done with crispy bacon. All these are favourites in my house. Plus of course, if, and I say IF, there is any left over, it is ideal frozen for lunches. It can be eaten cold too.
I will cook up more chicken than I need for just one dish and freeze it ready for a ‘can’t be bothered’ night. It is great to add to a stir fry too.
catie says
Amazing Mavis! I’ve really enjoyed following your garden progress. I imagine if you counted all the food you saved from the dump you probably add up to well over 2k lbs. Soon I will be building my raised bed garden and hopefully will be more successful than I’ve been with my container garden. Now I have to figure out how to get my strawberries out of my dogs reach. She knows when they are ripe and always beats me to them! Thanks for being an inspiration. Happy new year!
Catie
Mari says
Hehe you have that problem too? I have had to put a low fence around mine (18″ high) and a birdnetting cover over the top. My problem was twofold… the dog and the birds. Another solution is to build a strawberry tree (make sure you have some sort of watering core tho) and have it on a table or somewhere dog can’t reach. Hope this helps
Bible Babe says
In reference to the recipe, just reading it makes me drool.
Karina says
Try throwing some chopped asparagus in for the last couple minutes of the pasta cooking. It’s delicious, adds veggies and nice crunch and color. I always get rave reviews.
PattyB says
Mavis… you are my gardening inspiration! This year I will take the weekly pictures of my garden like you do. I think it would be a great tool for my Gardening Journal. Here’s to a very productive 2014 growing season for us all!
We had a ham for Christmas dinner this year…..Making this recipe for dinner tonite! Thanks for the recipe.
Mavis Butterfield says
You bet PattyB and I think taking weekly pictures of your garden would be a great idea. 🙂