Danielle's Mac and Cheese

Serves 8

Ingredients:
1 lb. elbow macaroni
3 cups milk
4 tbsp. butter
4 tbsp. all-purpose flour
½ lb. cheddar
½ lb. Gruyere
½ lb. Fontina
1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper
1/8 tsp. freshly ground nutmeg
salt & pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 350?F. Cook the macaroni until al dente, drain, and place in an oven-safe casserole dish. Shred the cheese, mixing all types together in a bowl. In a sauce pan, melt the butter over med-low heat. Add the flour and mix. Cook for about 3 minutes. Add the milk, a little at a time. Using a whisk, make sure there are no lumps between each addition of milk. When all the milk is added, switch to a wooden spoon, stirring often and scraping around all the edges. When the milk mixture begins to come to a boil, turn the heat to low; the mixture will become very thick. After thick enough to thickly cover the back of a spoon, blend in ¾ of the shredded cheese, nutmeg, and cayenne. Taste. Add additional salt and pepper as needed. Pour the cheese sauce over the elbow noodles and mix. Bake in the oven, uncovered, for 20 minutes. Add the additional ¼ shredded cheese to the top and bake 10 more minutes. This is a great standard cheesy recipe to follow, but substitutions for ingredients are encouraged. Make the recipe your own. Switch up cheeses, add toppings, or better yet—add bacon!