Stove-Top Mac and Cheese

Anyone that knows me, knows that I love cheese. If a recipe calls for 1 cup of cheese, chances are I'm going to make it 2 cups, instead. I'm always looking for new mac n' cheese recipes, and I found one over at YumSugar that I decided to test out. I didn't have a few of the ingredients like hot sauce and dijon mustard, so I excluded those. This is the recipe that I followed:

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups dry elbow macaroni noodles (the recipe calls for 3 cups of small and large shell pasta, but I was short on pasta, so I used elbow macaroni, instead)

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

2 tablespoons flour

1 cup skim milk

1 3/4 cups grated sharp cheddar cheese

4 ounces Velveeta, diced

salt

freshly ground black pepper

1/4 cup crushed Ritz crackers

2 tablespoons Parmesan cheese

Directions:

1. In a large pot of salted, boiling water, cook the dry pasta until soft, about 8 minutes. Drain the pasta.

2. Return the pot to medium heat and melt the butter. Add the flour and whisk continuously for about 2 minutes.

3. Gradually whisk in the milk and continue cooking for about 5 minutes until the sauce has thickened.

4. Add the cheeses and continue stirring until all has melted. Add salt and pepper to taste.

5. Pour the mac n' cheese into a greased pan (I used a 9x9, I believe). Mix together the cracker crumbs and the Parmesan cheese and sprinkle over the top of the pasta. Put in your oven, set to broil, for 4 minutes or until the top has become golden brown. Be careful not to let it burn! I can't tell you how many times I have burned the crust layer of pasta in my oven.

My mom and dad both really liked this recipe, and it is definitely one I will use again. I might even test it out on Daniel and see what he thinks. Next time, however, I will add more milk, maybe about 1/2 cup. I think that since I used skim milk, the sauce got far too thick and was not as creamy as the original recipe. All in all, I'd give this attempt a 4/5.