Source: Rachael Ray

Snapshot Review

My Rating:

My Husband’s Rating:

Will I make again?:  Yes!

Recipe Difficulty:  There are a few steps, but they are not difficult.

Time Involved: Takes a little while.

Occasion: Anytime!

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My Thoughts on this Recipe

This Corn Chowdah Mac and Cheese from Rachael Ray is a unique take on Mac and Cheese. It includes all sorts of extras like bacon, corn, potato, celery, red chile pepper, bell pepper and onion, and all of these come together for a mouth-watering combination. Rachael Ray has so many interesting recipes for Mac and Cheese, and I love pretty much every one I have ever made, including this one.

Ingredients

The main ingredients are pasta, corn, bacon, potato, celery, fresno pepper, red bell pepper, onion, garlic, butter, flour, milk, parmigiano-reggiano, sharp cheddar and some seasonings. View the full recipe here.

Recommendations

Whenever I make Mac and Cheese, I almost always use Cavatappi (corkscrew-shaped) pasta. I think the ridges in the pasta absorb the sauce, and it’s a nice size and shape for it.

For every Rachael Ray Mac and Cheese recipe, I always increase the milk to 3 cups, and the flour to 3 tablespoons because I like there to be more sauce.

I felt that this could use more cheese flavor. Perhaps because the cheddar is only on the top of the dish, it didn’t seem very cheesy. Next time, I will use at least two cups of melting cheese (such as cheddar, gruyere, or fontina) and only 1/2 cup of the parmigiano-reggiano in the actual sauce, and I’m not sure I will top it with anything.

I also never do the broil option; instead I bake the Mac and Cheese for 20 minutes at 400 degrees.

Future Ideas/Variations

As I mentioned, I think this could use more cheese flavor, but I love all of the extra vegetables in the dish. I might experiment with toppings such as a breadcrumb or cracker topping, and you could add more vegetables if you wanted.

Final thoughts

This Mac and Cheese is so interesting! It’s a nice change from the same old recipe!