Baked Macaroni And Cheese

Total Time: 1 hr 15 mins Preparation Time: 15 mins Cook Time: 1 hr

Ingredients

• Servings: 12
• 1 lb macaroni
• 1 lb colby cheese, sliced (also known as longhorn or longhorn colby)
• 3 cups milk
• 6 eggs
• salt
• fresh ground black pepper

Recipe

• 1 cook macaroni according to package directions but stop a minute or two short of fully cooked. drain and rinse.
• 2 grease or butter an 8x12 or 13x9 baking pan. (a half batch can be made in a 9 inch square pan).
• 3 spread 1/3 of the macaroni in the pan. top with 1/3 of the cheese slices. salt and pepper to taste.
• 4 repeat twice, alternating the directions the slices run so as to fill all the gaps.
• 5 beat eggs into the milk.
• 6 pour into the casserole dish. you want this custard to come within about 1/2 inch of the top of the pan. the shape and size of the dish may require more or less -- just keep the proportion of 2 eggs per cup of milk.
• 7 bake at 350°f for 60-90 minutes or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean of custard (it might be a bit cheesy).
• 8 tip -- this is apt to overflow a little if you got the custard too far up to the top. best to bake it on the upper rack with a baking sheet on the rack below to catch any drips.
• 9 variations -- add things like leftover cooked chicken or turkey, leftover ham, cooked broccoli, very well-drained frozen spinach, peas, ?.
• 10 you can also vary the cheese used. i've had it with cheddar, american, swiss (extra good with ham and broccoli), and mozzarella.
• 11 you can also try adding different herbs. imo, nothing wakes up bland food like a dash of sherry or a pinch of celery seed. a bit of garlic, thyme, or italian seasoning can be good depending on the cheese used.