Game day mac and cheese (with some secret ingredients)

The Huskies lost BADLY against Stanford this afternoon.

Even though I donned my red Stanford sweatshirt at the beginning of the game and started to cheer for my alma mater, I felt so sorry for the Huskies by the time the score hit 28-0 (which I think was in only the second quarter) that I dumped the sweatshirt and started to cook Aleks and Kat’s favorite dinner – mac and cheese.  They had, after all, come home for the weekend and I decided they needed some comfort food, now more than ever.

Here are the basic ingredients, gathered only after the casserole was in the oven, so I faked some of these!

I made this just like I make any other mac and cheese; I just snuck in a few extra ingredients.  The “secret” ingredient that made all the difference is the spinach and artichoke Parmesan dip from Costco.  I stirred this right into the cream sauce and it immediately added an herby, cheesy creaminess that was delish!

So I probably don’t need to post a recipe because you make mac and cheese all the time, right?  Here are the basics:

• Boil the noodles till just barely al dente, rinse and set aside.
• Make a cream sauce: heat butter and add flour for the roux, then slowly add milk.  Stir to thicken. 
• Add all kinds of fun ingredients to the cream sauce while cooking: sour cream, the spinach artichoke Parmesan dip, grated cheddar and jack cheese, grated Parmesan cheese.  Etc.!
• When sauce is thick and has all kinds of fun and tasty stuff in it (yes, this is how I cook), stir it into the drained pasta and sir it all together.
• Layer raw broccoli florets in a greased 9 x 13” ovenproof dish. 
• Pour pasta and sauce mixture on top of florets.
• Brown a tablespoon or so of butter in a frying pan.  Add bread crumbs and stir to mix, then top the casserole with the breadcrumbs.
• Bake in 350 degree oven for about 20 – 25 minutes.

Enjoy while you lament (or gloat) over the football game.