Cooking with Alice in Dairyland: Melting Pot Mac & Cheese

July 14th is National Mac & Cheese Day and this year I wanted to celebrate!

Growing up on my family’s dairy farm in Chippewa Falls, our cheese drawer in the refrigerator was always stocked, but we usually ended up having half-eaten ends of cheese blocks left over. This cheese is perfectly fine to eat, but I wanted a recipe that used all the bits of cheese at once. Emptying my cheese drawer means that I now have room to refill it with new Wisconsin cheeses.

This recipe is one I designed to use my left over bits and pieces of cheese in a tasty homemade Melting Pot Mac & Cheese. You don’t have to have exactly the kinds of cheeses that I am using to make this recipe. This is designed for you to be able to use what you have in your home without making an extra trip to the store. My Melting Pot Mac & Cheese uses Wisconsin dairy products, like cheese, which are natural sources of protein, calcium and seven more essential nutrients.

The Wisconsin dairy products I am using are: Marieke Gouda Plain Gouda, Sartori Gold BellaVitano and SarVecchio Parmesian, Weyauwega Medium Cheddar and Pepper Jack, Westby Sour Cream, JS Three Year Aged White Cheddar, Old World Creamery butter, and whole milk from my family’s dairy farm.

I love using real dairy because it is produced by real dairy farmer who care for animals, land and water resources. Dairy farmers are on the job 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year to feed and care for their animals. Dairy farmers care for the environment – they have reduced their carbon footprint nearly 25 percent in since 2007 – and are the only industry in the United States to actually do so.

Dairy farmers are good at their job and so are Wisconsin cheese makers. Wisconsin is the only state that requires cheese makers to be licensed, ensuring high quality products.

Visit wisconsincheese.com to find your next favorite cheese pairings and TONS of cheesy recipes!

Today I will be making enough for eight people, but this recipe can be easily halved if needed.

INGREDIENTS:

16 oz. elbow macaroni noodles
4 Tbsp butter
4 Tbsp flour
2 cups whole milk
½ cup sour cream
4 cups cheese (grated or cubed)
1 tsp ground mustard
1 tsp garlic powder
salt and pepper to taste
¼ cup bread crumbs
¼ grated parmesan

DIRECTIONS:

Cook noodles according to package instructions, drain and set aside.
Melt butter in large pot over low heat
Add flour to melted butter, stir until smooth. Cook one to two minutes.
Slowly add milk, whisk until butter and flour mixture is completely dissolved.
Add sour cream and allow mixture to cook.
Once thickened, add cheese and seasonings. Stir frequently until all cheeses have melted.
Add noodles into cheese sauce and stir.
Your Melting Pot Mac & Cheese is ready to eat or continue on to next steps.
Pour into oven safe baking dish and top with bread crumbs and parmesan cheese.
Bake Melting Pot Mac & Cheese at 350°F for 20 to 30 minutes. I liked to broil mine for the last few minutes so the top becomes golden and crispy.