Three Cheese Spaghetti
OK - so I totally intended to make homemade mac & cheese last night, but I discovered I only had a handful of bow tie pasta or q box of spaghetti. I wanted pasta & I figured cheese sauce would taste good on noodles regardless of how they are shaped - so I just started tossing things into the pot!
Spaghetti noodles, broken into small(ish) pieces
Milk (approx 2 cups...not totally sure b/c I poured at random - you can eyeball it.)
3/4 cup cheddar cheese
3/4 cup pepper jack cheese
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
3 tbsp. butter
minced onion - just eyeball this as well
dash of pepper - seriously, not much...
Cook noodles & drain
Melt butter in saucepan, adding in onions & swirl it all around good! Gradually add milk & cheese at intervals. Keep a good whisking of the sauce going because since this is all milk based, it will burn really quick. The sauce should start to thicken after about 5-10 minutes of cooking. I also added in just a dash of pepper for a little extra spice.
Mix together sauce & noodles, pour into baking dish & top with shredded cheese. Bake for 20 minutes at 325. It will come out bubbly & delicious!
 |
| Mixing all the goodness together - this pic is blurry but there is a slight bubbling - that is a good thing! |
 |
| Add the noodles into the cheesy sauce...it is smelling so good! |
 |
| Ready to go into the oven.... |
 |
| And fresh out of the oven - all melty, bubbly & delicious! |
 |
| Yum! Yum! Time to eat up! |
If you are a fan of cheese - you would really like this recipe because it is essentially spaghetti with cheese sauce as opposed to marinara sauce. And it is baked. I loved it & I'm glad I've got some leftovers for later in the week. I just went with what I had laying around & it turned out to be pretty good! Now - on to the other cheesiness.
Four Cheese & Bacon Chowder
1 bag four cheese blend (you can choose any type, I used Sargentos Four State Cheddar, which is where I got this recipe)
3-4 slices bacon
minced onions
1 1/2 cups milk
1 1/2 cups chicken broth
pepper
3 tbsp. all purpose flour
Cook the bacon in soup pot until crisp, remove bacon with a fork & set aside for later. Cook onions in bacon drippings. Add in a bit of pepper.
Add flour & gradually add in milk & chicken broth, whisking slowly to form a rue. You don't want to let your flour get too lumpy, so gradually add the milk & chicken broth so that you are keeping the mixture creamy.
Add about a cup of cheese mix, gradually. The original recipe calls for almost 2 cups of cheese, but I didn't really want the cheese taste to be overwhelming, so I didn't use as much. It's your call how much you actually add. Remember that this should cook on about medium heat - you don't want it to burn & stick to the bottom but a few bubbles are a good thing. Just keep giving it a stir/whisk ever so often for about 20 minutes.
Tear your bacon into pieces & add back into the soup. Cook for about 5 minutes more & then ladle it up! You should have a thick, creamy & filling soup. It doesn't taste too cheesy, nor does it taste too bacon-y, what it does taste is absolutely yummy!
 |
| Ingredients at the ready.... |
 |
| You gotta love crispy bacon - that means something is going to be good! |
 |
| Whisking - very important so that things don't get too lumpy! |
 |
| In goes the cheese...very delicious! |
 |
| Add in that crispy bacon.... |
 |
| Yeah - this stuff is delicious! |
Well, I guess that is about all for now. Just wanted to share these recipes real quick with everyone - even if everyone is only about 4 of you. I've got to get some other stuff done before I can settle in to watch "Happy Endings" in a little while. Hope everyone has a good Tuesday night!
Sounds delicious!
ReplyDelete