Gluten Free Macaroni and Cheese

Yum

Gluten Free Macaroni and Cheese

(adapted from Allrecipes.com base recipe)

Ingredients:

2 tbsp. margarine or butter
1 tbsp. olive oil
1/4 cup chopped onion
3/4 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1/2 tsp. dry mustard
2 cups whole milk
12 oz. Velveeta cheese
3 cups shredded white cheese of choice (I used a mixture of provolone, mozzarella, and white cheddar)
2 cups dry Gluten Free elbow macaroni, cooked and drained

Directions:

Melt butter and olive oil in a medium Dutch Oven. Sauté onions until they become transparent and soft. Add spices and stir. Add the milk and Velveeta cheese, stirring until the cheese melts. When the Velveeta has finished melting, slowly add the shredded cheeses, stirring until all the cheese is melted and combined. Add the cooked and drained GF elbow noodles, stirring well to mix thoroughly. Top with shredded cheese, if desired. Bake at 350 until bubbly and just starting to brown– about 1/2 hour if hot, or 45 minutes to an hour if you have refrigerated the mixture pre-bake.

Now, in pictures! 🙂

Who would have known that a delicious, creamy comfort food like Macaroni and Cheese could be gluten free?  Yessss . . . no more passing up this little beauty at Thanksgiving for the roasted veggies (although those are very tasty, too! :).  The first time I made this GF mac and cheese, I literally couldn’t believe or tell that it wasn’t the real thing!  So let’s get started.  The sooner we make it, the sooner you’ll be shoving delicious, cheesy goodness into your face. 😉

If you have a Dutch Oven, get it going and melt your butter and olive oil into a luscious pool of loveliness.  Mince your onion (I used half an onion– it was a little extra, but I love onions, so no biggie), or leave it out if you don’t like onions.  It mainly just adds flavor, though– it doesn’t make the mac “oniony.”  So add without fear 🙂

At this point I also like to start boiling my noodles, so that they will be drained and ready to add to my cheese sauce at the end.  Just boil 2 cups of gluten free noodles of your choice (I am using penne) according to package directions, and then drain the noodles when they are tender, tossing with a few tsp. of olive oil to keep them from sticking together.

 

Now for the best part . . . the cheese sauce!  Sauté your onions until they are softened and almost see-through.  Go ahead and add your spices next (salt, pepper, and dry mustard) and stir the whole ‘shebang together.  Mmm.  At this point, you will probably have random family members drifting into the kitchen on nonsense errands, wondering what in the world smells so good . . . and do you need a taste tester, like . .  .now? 🙂

Have yourself a cup of coffee in a John Wayne mug.  Because JW just makes everything better.

 

This lovely photo is what your butter, sautéed onions, and spices will look like when all the luscious stuff is combined.  Mmmm.

Next, add in your 2 cups of whole milk, and your roughly 3 “inches” of a Velveeta log.  Heat this mixture on medium low heat, stirring so nothing sticks, until the Velveeta is completely melted, and the mixture is beautiful and creamy.  When the Velveeta is completely melted, add in 3 cups of shredded cheese of your choice.  I used Provolone, Mozzarella, and White Cheddar, because that’s what I had in the fridge, but you can use any kind of cheese that you like.  Keep the heat low and stir occasionally, until the cheese is melted.

 

This, my friends, is what glory looks like.  Melted, ooey, gooey cheese.  Sigh.  If only cheese could accept love notes . . . but then I suppose its mailbox would be “full to bustin’.”

 

Remember those noodles we boiled and drained at the beginning?  Yes! You’re great at thinking ahead.  I love working with you.  Take those drained noodles and add them to the cheese sauce.  Stir everything together.  Mmmm.  If you are using a Dutch Oven, you can just put this whole ‘shebang right into the oven to bake.  If you’re using a regular pan, dump the mixture into a greased 13×9 pan and sprinkle with a little shredded cheese, if desired.  Bake the macaroni at 350 degrees for about 30-40 minutes, just until the top is toasty and golden brown.

 

Seriously.  Look at that plate of ooey, gooey, cheesy loveliness.  Can you tell that’s gluten free?

 

Nope.  And no one else will be able to tell, either 😉

You did it. And I’m just so proud of you.

 

 

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