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.

Baked Mushroom Macaroni

I'm notoriously known to love macaroni and cheese. Maybe not as much as my boyfriend who lives off it, but close enough. There are two ways people usually like it. Creamy or not. To be honest, I really do not like creamy macaroni and cheese at all. It's just to... Well, creamy. My boyfriend, however, is different. He's a creamy guy. But, he does like the baked macaroni's I make.

It was me and my mom who came up with this recipe. We didn't really know what to make for dinner and we really didn't have much to cook with to begin with. We did however have plenty of cheese! But we didn't necessarily want it to be the same old macaroni and cheese. After looking threw the pantry and pondering for awhile, we found a can of cream of mushroom soup. We thought, "Why not?"

All I got to say is; Yum! And the pepper jack cheese really give it a bit of a spice. Which, I love! Than again, I love pepper jack cheese to begin with, so it just made it even better for me!

Recipe

16 ounce elbow pasta
1 can (10.75 ounce) condensed cream of mushroom
1 tbsp. butter
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. pepper
1/3 cup milk
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese, plus 1/4 cup
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese, plus 1/4 cup
1 cup processed cheese, chopped (I used VELVETA)
1/2 cup cup pepper jack cheese, chopped


1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Bring a large pot of salted water to boil. Add pasta and cook until tender. Drain and set aside.

3. In a medium saucepan, combine butter, milk, and cream of mushroom soup. Add mozzarella cheese, cheddar cheese, processed cheese and pepper jack cheese. Stir until cheese is melted and mixture is smooth. Add pepper and salt.

4. Stir in pasta into cheese mixture and combine the cheese with the pasta. Pour into a 9 by 13 inch baking dish. Sprinkle the top with 1/4 cup mozzarella cheese and 1/4 cup cheddar cheese.

5. Bake for about 20-25 minutes, or until top is golden brown. Let stand for about 10 minutes before serving.

Spicy Baked Macaroni

Giada never lets me down.

The other day, I was watching 'Everyday Italian' with Giada De Laurentiis, and she made something that sound just so delicious! I love Baked Macaroni and Cheese, but when I say her making this Spicy Macaroni with tomatoes, mushrooms and spinach; I was intrigued. And I knew I defiantly wanted to make this as soon as possible.

When I told everyone that I was making this, they were all also very interested as to how this would taste. That is, except my boyfriend. He's a very, very picky eater. But, he loves Macaroni and Cheese and he didn't really like the idea of ruining Macaroni and Cheese by having all the things that were in this recipe. But, I told him had to at least try it.

No only was I in love with this, but my entire family fell in love with this recipe! Honestly, it may be better than the original Baked Macaroni. It was just enlightening and all the flavors contrasted very well together! And... My boyfriend even liked it! Kudos!

Recipe

1 pd. elbow macaroni pasta
3 tbsp. olive oil
1/2 cup mushrooms, sliced
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes
1 (10 ounce) package frozen spinach, thawed and drained
1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes
1/2 cup bread crumbs
1/4 cup grated parmesan, plus 1/3 cup
2 tbsp. butter, softened, plus 2 tablespoons
12 ounces mozzarella cubed (about 2 cups)
1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg


1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Bring a large pot of salt water to a boil over high heat. Add the pasta and cook until tender, for about 8 to 10 minutes. Drain pasta.

3. In a large skillet, heat the olive oil on medium heat. Add the mushrooms and garlic. Cook until the mushrooms are tender, about 7 minutes. Add the tomatoes, red pepper flakes and spinach. Stir to combine and cook until heated through, about 5 minutes.

4. In a small bowl, mix together the bread crumbs and parmesan. Spread the softened butter in a 9 by 13 inch baking dish and sprinkle half of the bread crumbs mixture inside the dish to coat.

5. In a large bowl, combine the vegetable mixture with the cooked pasta, cubed mozzarella, the remaining bread crumbs and nutmeg. Spoon into the baking dish and top with and remaining bread crumbs, and dot the top with remaining butter. Bake until the top is golden brown, about 30 to 40 minutes. Serve and enjoy!

Tuna Salad

I remember when I was a little kid; When we would get together with family at the beach to spend time together and have cook outs and whatnot. What I remember most was one of my favorite things to eat; Tuna Salad!

To be honest, I've never been to big on seafood at all. But I'm absolutely obsessed with Tuna Salad. My mom and my aunt were usually the ones that made this. We would all go out, surf, swim, jump waves, and then come back ashore to eat. While everyone would go to the hamburgers, grilled chicken and hotdogs, I was the one indulging in the Tuna Salad. I would actually get yelled at because suddenly the Tuna Salad was disappearing!

When my mom would make it, she would never let me watch her. I was a very picky eater and I even still am to this day. But, she knew that if I knew what all went into a Tuna Salad, I would not eat it. I hated mayo, seafood, pickles and mustard; Which is all that went into the Tuna Salad! But I ate that Tuna Salad up to no end. It's just a great, refreshing meal.

Recipe

2 cups elbow pasta
3 cups tuna, drained
1/2 celery, thinly sliced
1/4 cup dill pickles, chopped
1/4 cup dill pickle juice
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup yellow mustard
1/4 tsp. pepper


1. Cook pasta as directed. Drain.

2. Drain tuna from can and put into a large bowl. Put pepper, mayo, mustard, celery, pickles, pickle juice and celery into the bowl with the tuna. Stir together to mixed together.

3. Take drained pasta and add to the tuna mixture. Blend well with a large spoon. Chill for about 2 hours. Serve.

Baked Macaroni Cheese

Macaroni and Cheese was something I always looked forward to when my nana and grandpa would come over for dinner. My nana made the best mararoni and cheese that I had ever tasted! It's funny, she can't cook anything; At all! If you were to eat something she cooked, sadly, it would seem like you just been poisoned. But here maroni! It was just so good!

She said that he mother was famous for this macaroni and she taught here how to make it. Well, me and my mother wanted to cook this! But, my nana would not tell us. So, we tried our best to make it, and when we finally got it, it came to taste 100% better than my nana's! We had her try it, and she agreed. It was better they're heres. This is when she told us how it was she made hers. And we we're left speechless when she told us.

She didn't even make it from scratch! In fact, she would by the mararoni and cheese store bought kind and just add a TON of cheese! And here me and my mother are, starting from scratch, trying to figure it out. No wonder ours came out better.

Recipe

1 box (12 ounce) macaroni
1/4 cup butter
3 cups milk
1 egg
1 cup grated cheddar cheese
1 cup grated mozzarella cheese
1 cup grated sharp cheddar cheese
Black Pepper
Salt

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coo pasta till al dente. While the pasta is cooking, in a separate pot, melt the butter. Stir in the milk. Simmer for about 10 minutes.

2. Temper in the egg. Stir in 1 cup grated sharp cheddar cheese. Season with salt and pepper. Fold the macaroni into the mix then pour it into a casserole dish. Top with 1 cup mozzarella cheese. Bake for 30 minutes.

3. Remove from the oven and top with 1 cup grated cheddar cheese. Bake for an additional 20 minutes. (if you like the top a little burnt like I, broil for about 5 minutes after the 20 minutes)

4. Let food rest for about 10 minutes before serving.