(CHEESY) MAC-Culloch v. Maryland: Trying this is Necessary & Proper!

Living in Virginia has its good and its bad. My number one struggle is being so far away from my family. Luckily however, I've found a group of amazing friends that are making it much easier for me. We do our best to have dinner as a group once a week, and, to be honest, it's usually my favorite night (yes, I like it even more than bar review. Insanity!). This week, I decided to make Erica happy and make her one of her favorite foods--Mac 'n' Cheese.

I winged it, but I think it turned out great! How can you go wrong with cheese, pasta, cream, and a little spice?! Try it out, I promise you'll like it :)

What you'll need:
- 1. 5 lbs of pasta [aka 1. 5 boxes] (you can use elbow or cellentani)
- 4 cups of shredded cheese (I used 1 cup pepper-jack, 1 cup mild cheddar, 1 cup gruyere, and 1 cup parmesan)
- 4oz of cream cheese
- 2 cups of milk
- 1/2 cup of heavy whipping cream
- 1 tbsp salt
- 2 tsp pepper
- 2 tsp paprika
- 1 jalapeno, seeded and diced
- 2 tbsps dijon mustard
- 1/2 cup bread crumbs (I recommend using panko crumbs)
- 3 tbsps butter
- water to boil pasta
- red pepper flakes, to taste (optional)

How you make it:

Start by cooking the pasta in boiling water until it is tender, but not completely done, aka al dente (It will finish cooking while it bakes). Then drain the pasta and pour it into your baking dish.

In a pot, mix together the milk, cream, cream cheese, salt, pepper, paprika, mustard, jalapeno, and red pepper. Cook this over medium heat, slowly stirring in all of the cheese. When the cheese is melted, pour the mixture over the pasta. Make sure to mix it around so that everything is well coated!

In a small bowl mix together the bread crumbs and melted butter. Spread the breadcrumb mixture over the top of the pasta and place the entire thing in the oven at 375 degrees for 30mins, or until the top is golden brown. Broil on HI for an extra minute to get an extra crunch.

SO DELICIOUS!

This is M.C. She really liked the mac 'n' cheese :)

This is the Williamsburg fam in Snowshoe, WV

NOTE: After making the Mac, I went back and made some adjustments to the recipe (ex. I originally didn't have enough salt and I had too many bread crumbs). The recipe described above is the newer and better version, I promise!