Ham and Cheese Macaroni

Giada De Laurentiss is one of my favorite Food Network cooks to watch. All the food that she makes, I love. I'm a pasta fanatic. I'm either eating sweets or pasta (I'm a carb freak!). And I love italian food. It's my favorite type of food to eat, follow by Chinese and Mexican. I've tried a few of the other cooks and or cheif recipes with pasta, however, Giada's recipes have always been my favorite!

This recipe was one that I knew that I'd love. Ham with Macaroni and Cheese is truly an awesome combination to me (as well as to my boyfriend. He absolutely Macaroni and Cheese). And I liked the idea to use Egg Noodles. I was going to use Macaroni pasta, but when I looked into the pantry, all of it was gone. So I went with what the recipe called for.

The egg noodles made the macaroni and cheese even more comforting then it already was. Which, I didn't think possible. But, it did. Everyone absolutely loved it, and I'll defiantly use egg noodles more often. There awesome in a Macaroni and Cheese. You can never go wrong with Giadas recipes! This was also entered into the Presto Pasta Night roundup!

Recipe

12 ounces wide egg noodles
2 cups heavy cream
2 1/2 cups whole milk
2 tsp. all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
2 cups grated Fontina
3/4 cup parmesan
3/4 cup mozzarella
4 ounces cooked ham, diced
2 tbsp. chopped parsley

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Butter a 13 by 9-inch glass baking dish and set aside.

2. Cook the noodles in a large pot of boiling salted water until tender but still firm to bite, stirring frequently, about 5 minutes. Drain well, but do not rinse.

3. Whisk the cream, milk, flour, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and pepper in large bowl to blend. Stir in 1 cup Fontina, 1/2 cup Parmesan, 1/2 cup mozzarella, ham, if using, and parsley. Add the noodles and toss to coat. Transfer the noodle mixture to the prepared baking dish. Toss the remaining 1 cup Fontina, 1/4 cup Parmesan, and 1/4 cup mozzarella in a small bowl to blend. Sprinkle the cheese mixture over the noodle mixture.

4. Bake until the sauce bubbles and the cheese melts and begins to brown on top, about 20 minutes. Let stand for 10 minutes before serving.