I made this as a side dish last year for Thanksgiving and it was a hit so I wanted to share it with you!

🧀Ingredients:
-16 oz/1 box of ziti noodles or whatever macaroni noodle you like
-6 tbsp unsalted butter
-1/3 all purpose flour
-3 cups whole milk
-1 cup heavy cream
-4 cups sharp white cheddar cheese shredded
-2 cups gruyere cheese shredded
-1 tbsp olive oil
Seasoning:
-1/4 tsp garlic powder
-1/4 tsp chili powder
-Salt and Pepper to taste
Topping:
-1 cup panko
-3/4 tsp smoked paprika
-1/2 cup parmesan cheese shredded
-3 tbsp butter melted

🧀Directions:
-Bring a large pot of water to a boil.
-Shred your white cheddar and gruyere cheese. You can combine them, you should have 6 cups total. Set aside 2 cups.
-Preheat oven to 350. Spray a baking dish with cooking spray.
-Add 1/2 tsp salt to boiling water. Cook pasta al dente. It took me 10 minutes. Drain pasta and coat with 1 tbsp of olive oil. Let cool.
-In a medium bowl mix together your topping ingredients, set aside.
-Melt 6 tbsps of butter in a stock pot. Whisk in flour over medium heat. Continuously whisk for 1 minute, it will bubble.
-Moderately whisk in milk and heavy cream until smooth. When you see bubbles form add seasonings and whisk for another two minutes. Turn down heat to low. Next time I may even try turning the heat completely off.
-Add two cups of your cheese. Whisk so it is smooth, add 2 more cups. Whisk until it is just combined and smooth. Stir in cooled pasta so all noodles are coated.
-Pour half of the mac and cheese into baking dish. Top with the 2 cups cheese you set aside at the beginning. Add the rest of the mac and cheese. Top with prepared topping. Bake for 20 minutes. Enjoy!

Note: This recipe is originally by Trish from the blog mom on timeout. The recipe I wrote above is a little different as I changed some measurements and added some seasonings.

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