Cheddar Macaroni with Ham

From the book Cooking for the Week by Diane Morgan, Dan Taggart, and Kathleen Taggart

Introduction

Nearly every-one has childhood memories of one of the all-time comfort foods, macaroni and cheese. If you are lucky, your memories are of the real McCoy, not something popped in a microwave oven or “made” from the fixings in a blue box. What follows is simple: a homemade cheese sauce poured over barely cooked elbow macaroni with diced ham and topped with buttered bread crumbs. Chilled leftovers can easily be cut into serving portions and frozen.

Ingredients

Steps

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease a 9-by-13-inch baking dish. In a 4-quart saucepan, melt 5 tablespoons of the butter over medium heat. Stir in the flour. Cook, stirring, until the mixture is very lightly browned. Gradually whisk in the milk, about 1 cup at a time. Add the salt, mustard, and hot pepper sauce. Bring to a simmer, whisking frequently, and cook for 5 minutes. Add the cheese and cook until it melts. Turn off heat.
2. Bring a 4-quart or larger pot of water to a rolling boil. Add the macaroni and cook, stirring occasionally, until it is al dente (cooked through but still quite chewy), about 6 minutes. Do not overcook; the noodles will continue to cook while baking. Drain in a colander, shaking out as much water as possible. Mix the noodles with the ham and spread in the prepared dish. Pour the sauce over. Melt the remaining 4 tablespoons butter and mix into the bread crumbs. Spread the crumb topping over the macaroni. Bake until bubbly, about 30 minutes. If the crumbs have not browned handsomely, place the casserole under the broiler for a few seconds before serving.
3. Serve half of the macaroni and cheese and set aside the rest to cool. Cover and refrigerate the reserved macaroni and cheese for up to 5 days. To freeze, cut into servings, wrap individually, and freeze for up to 3 months.

This content is from the book Cooking for the Week by Diane Morgan, Dan Taggart, and Kathleen Taggart.