Creamy Baked Macaroni and Cheese

Cheesy and creamy baked macaroni cheese is a dish I often make for big family dinners.  My kids don’t like a breadcrumb topping so I focused on the cream and cheese in this dish.

Recipe adapted from Food Network

Ingredients:

1 pound elbow macaroni

2 ½ cups half and half

8 ounces reduced fat cream cheese at room temperature

2 8 ounce bags shredded macaroni and cheese mixture

Directions:

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook pasta to al dente according to package directions.  Reserve ¾ cups pasta water.
2. Heat half and half in a large saucepan over medium heat until it comes to a simmer. Simmer for 15 minutes.
3. Add cream cheese and stir until it is melted.
4. Add 1 ½ bags of the shredded cheese.  Stir as it melts until the sauce is smooth.
5. Add macaroni and pasta water to the saucepan.  Stir to mix.
6. Transfer the mixture to a 9×13 baking dish.
7. Sprinkle remaining cheese on top.
8. If baking now bake at 425 for 10 minutes.  If prepping ahead of time and heating after refrigerating bake for 40-45 minutes until all cheese is melted and the dish is heated through.