Creamy Macaroni and Cheese

People, this is it! I have found the ideal mac and cheese: nothing more than macaroni swimming among melted cheese. Its superb rich creaminess comes not from cheese sauce (which usually involves flour) but a pureed mixture of cheddar, cottage cheese, and milk. This is what mac and cheese should be. I got this from the NY Times.


Ingredients

• 1 tablespoons butter
• 1 cup cottage cheese (not lowfat)
• 2 1/3 cups milk (not skim)
• 1 teaspoon dry mustard
•  Pinch cayenne
•  Pinch freshly grated nutmeg
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 pound sharp or extra-sharp cheddar cheese, grated
• ½ pound elbow pasta, uncooked.

Instructions

1. Heat oven to 375 degrees and position an oven rack in upper third of oven. Use 1 tablespoon butter to butter a 9-inch round or square baking pan.
2. In a blender, purée cottage cheese, milk, mustard, cayenne, nutmeg and salt and pepper together. 
3. Reserve ¼ cup grated cheese for topping. In a large bowl, combine remaining grated cheese, milk mixture and uncooked pasta. Pour into prepared pan, cover tightly with foil and bake 30 minutes.
4. Uncover pan, stir gently, sprinkle with reserved cheese. Bake 30 minutes more, uncovered, until browned. (Optional: bake 15 minutes, then let it sit on the counter for at least an hour, then finish off with the final 15 minutes of baking.) 
5. Let cool at least 15 minutes before serving.

Serves 8.