If mac and cheese sounds boring to you or you do it to often and get tires, here’s a good way to add a little twist to this familiar dish. First, you take shell pasta, call it by its Italian name, cavatappi, which is already fancy enough.
Then you bake it. That’s right, it is a very simple casserole, buttery and creamy, with a lovely golden crust on top and soft inside, full of melted cheese. There are also plenty of ways you can get creative with this recipe.
The base is very simple. You boil the mac – and make sure you cook it al dente, because it will be cooked more while you bake it. You make the white sauce not unlike bechamel, of butter, flour and milk, to use as a casserole filling. You add the cheese, mix everything and bake in the oven.
Sounds simple enough. It does require watching over, however, especially the sauce, because you will need to stir it constantly to prevent from burning and forming lumps.
The result is amazing as it is, but you can make it even better by adding some things. My favorite things to add to this baked cavatappi pasta are sweet corn kernels, frozen peas, cubed bacon or ham or Italian sausage. You can try any combination of those or use your own ideas.
I hope you enjoy this recipe, the instructions are below!