Directions: |
Directions:Pre-heat your oven to 375º
Fill up a large pot with water and pour the Ziti noodles and vegetable oil in and bring to a boil. Stir occasionally to make sure the noodles aren't sticking together or sticking to the bottom of the pot.
Once noodles are soft strain the water, but reserve about 2 cups. I just eyeball it and pour some of the noodle water out of the pot without straining it and leave the Ziti noodles and 2 cups of water in the pot. Turn the stove down to a medium heat.
Throw the whole dang stick of butter into the pot with the noodles and water. Stir it until melted.
Take the Velveeta and rough chop it into large chunks and toss it into the pot. Stir until melted. This takes a little bit longer than the butter since there's so much of it.
Add salt and pepper to taste.
Get a large casserole dish, about 11x13. Make sure it is a deep dish, because this is A LOT of macaroni and cheese!
Pour macaroni and cheese mixture into your casserole dish. *This will look wet, don't worry! It's supposed to*
Add 3/4's a can of evaporated milk. It's ok to eyeball it. *Now it looks like soup. That's perfect! It'll make an extra creamy mac and cheese!*
Top your soupy macaroni and cheese with MORE cheese. Add the slices of American cheese to the top, then bake in the oven for about 30-45 minutes, or until the cheese on the top is brown and bubbly. |
Personal
Notes: |
Personal
Notes: Meme makes this for every special occasion and holiday because everyone in our family would always request it! This macaroni and cheese is not for the faint of heart or those wanting to count their calories. This is a no holds barred, slap yo' mama, give you diabetes and a dairy hang over type recipe. It's so worth it! Make this for the people you really love. Make it for people who will eat it with you and never question your use of hydrogenated cheese and never lament the fact that they just ate 1000 calories in one serving. This recipe isn't for those people.
One day, after I had been on my own for a while as an adult, and had started hosting my own holiday parties I finally asked Meme for her macaroni and cheese recipe. She gave me a rough estimate of how she makes it, but she had been doing it so long that she could do it without measuring anything. So when I started making it, it took a few trial and error attempts before I was able to achieve the same consistency as Meme's famous Macaroni and Cheese.
Don't be afraid to have really soupy water and noodles. I know it's scary to see it sloshing around in the casserole dish, but I guarantee you that by the time it reaches the right temperature that you will have the most delicious, melty, cheesy, macaroni and cheese that you've ever tasted. However, a word of caution, do NOT fill it to the top of your casserole dish or it will spill over into the bottom of your oven and you will have a mess to clean up after you eat your mac and cheese. Leave about an inch or more of head space for this dish to bubble up.
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