Easiest Way to Make Perfect simple macaroni and cheese

simple macaroni and cheese.

You can have simple macaroni and cheese using 16 ingredients and 7 steps. Here is how you cook it.

Ingredients of simple macaroni and cheese

1. Prepare of macaroni and cheese.
2. You need 1/2 lb of elbow macaroni.
3. Prepare 1/2 cup of yellow onion finely diced.
4. You need 1 of bay leaf.
5. You need 3 tbsp of flour.
6. It's 3 tbsp of butter.
7. Prepare 1 tbsp of powdered mustard.
8. Prepare 1/2 tsp of paprika.
9. Prepare 3 cup of milk.
10. Prepare 1 large of egg.
11. It's 12 oz of sharp cheddar, shredded.
12. Prepare 1 tsp of kosher salt.
13. Prepare 1 tsp of black pepper.
14. Prepare of topping (optional).
15. Prepare 3 tbsp of panko bread crumbs.
16. It's 3 tbsp of butter.

simple macaroni and cheese step by step

1. preheat oven to 350°F..
2. in a large pot of boiling, salted water cook the pasta to al dente..
3. while the pasta is cooking, in a seperate pot, melt the butter. sweat onions with bay leaf..
4. whisk in the flour, paprika and mustard and keep it moving for about five minutes. make sure its free of lumps. stir in the milk..
5. while still stirring consistently, simmer for ten minutes then remove the bay leaf.
6. whisk the egg in a seperate bowl and slowly pour the egg into the milk mixture. (this process is called tempering.)do not stop stirring. make sure your eggs dont scramble. stir in 3/4 of the cheddar cheese. season with salt and pepper. fold the macaroni into the mix and pour into a 2-quart casserole dish. top with remaining cheese..
7. melt the butter in a saute pan and toss the bread crumbs to coat. top the macaroni with the bread crumbs. bake for 30 minutes. remove from oven and rest for five minutes before serving..