My Favorite Baked Macaroni and Cheese.

Dustbunni's Note:

Our family's favorite Macaroni and cheese for over 25 years. Based on a recipe cut out of a Virginia newspaper many years ago.

• Total Time: 1 hrs 5 mins
• Prep Time: 20 mins
• Cook Time: 45 mins

Ingredients:

Servings: 6

• 1 lb macaroni, cooked al dente
• 1 small onion, sliced thin (or chopped)
• 1/2 cup celery, minced
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 2 cups milk
• 4 eggs
• 1 lb cheddar cheese, shredded (or 1/2 lb. cheddar and 1/2 lb. swiss cheese)
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon basil (optional)
• 2/3 cup breadcrumbs

Directions:

1. Put the macaroni in a deep casserole dish and stir in the cheese, reserving 1/2 cup of cheese.
2. Saute the onion and celery in butter about four minutes.
3. Gently mix this into the macaroni mixture.
4. Beat the eggs, milk, and seasonings together and pour over the macaroni and cheese mixture.
5. Sprinkle the remaining cheese and breadcrumb over the top.
6. Bake covered at 350 degrees for 20 minutes and then uncover for another 20 minutes.

Reviews

[Bren in LR]

This is an excellent recipe. The finely diced celery adds texture that I like. I altered from the directions by simmering the milk/egg mixture on top of the stove till slightly thickened and then poured over the noodles. That cut my oven time to about 30 minutes. 20 minutes covered, 10 minutes uncovered. I used panko bread crumbs and it was yummy.

[Mimi Bobeck]

This one's a keeper that's for sure! This time I went the exactly as written because of the previous review. I wanted to be sure there wasn't something wrong with the actual method because as the previous review wrote, something went wrong with the swiss cheese. I can't imagine why, because swiss melts quite nicely and when mixed with cheddar should have been anything but boring. The conclusion I came to is there is nothing wrong with this recipe whatsoever - the person before me, just didn't like mac & cheese made with swiss. Well, I love swiss - I love all cheese. Since this is a keeper - I already have in mind the way I want to try this next time. I will definately be trying Dustbunni's suggestion of the 1/2 cheddar 1/2 swiss mix. I also might consider maybe a little asiago or gouda in the future. I did leave out the bread crumbs though - I don't like anything soaking up the mealty gooey goodness of the cheese. Thanks for posting and sharing this recipe with the community Dustbunni!

[Noahandrew]

I made this for my family and opted to use 1/2 swiss and 1/2 cheddar. I think the swiss was the demise of this recipe. I am a huge mac and cheese fan, but this recipe I found to be rather bland and the eggs somewhat scrambled while cooking. Not my favorite by any means. Sorry