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.

"Poison Noodles"

Whenever I say I'm having Poison Noodles, people look at me like the food must be poisoned. Well, as a matter of fact, that what we thought when we we're little. Me and my brother that is. The name originally came from my mom and her 6 brothers and sisters when she was little. My grandmother would make this meal and they would always complain in disgust. Which, came about the name 'Poison Noodles'.

Me and my brother picked up on the name as well. I remember looking at it as my mom would make it. When I was little, I always had this fear of cottage cheese. The hunks in it always disgusted me. I would never eat anything that would have cottage cheese. But, I ended up eating it on a bet.

My father would me he would give me $20 if I were to eat my plate of Poison Noodles. Twenty dollars?? That was like a hundred to little kids! I took my dad up on his offer. It took me a few moments as I stared at my fork in disgust, realizing that I was about to put that 'thing' into my mouth. The thought was mind bottling. However, I brought myself to take the bit. And, to my surprise, it wasn't that bad. Actually, it wasn't bad at all. Thous ended my fear for cottage cheese.

I still have no idea what the real name is to this dish, nor does my mother or my grandmother remember. We really don't care as to what the real name is. We are so fond of the name 'Poison Noodles'. It makes it sound more fun.

Recipe

1 package (12 oz.) wide noodle pasta
3/4 cup cottage cheese
1/2 sour cream
1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup cheddar cheese
1/4 tbsp. pepper
1/4 tsp. salt


1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Cook the pasta as directed. Drain.

2. In a bowl, combine cottage cheese, sour cream, milk, cheddar cheese, pepper and salt. Stir together till well combine.

3. Take noodles and combine it with the cottage cheese mixture. Cover the noodles in place in the oven for about 15 minutes. Serve warm.