Rich 'n' Cheesy Macaroni

With warm weather on it's way, I figure I better add a really good recipe that can go with a barbique. Mac 'n' cheese is usually a pretty safe dish that you can be sure that everyone will like, but there are very few recipes that exicute this well enough, that makes it worth not using mac 'n' cheese from a box. This is one of them. The only thing I would change about what I did was instead of using white cheddar for the topping, I would have done yellow sharp cheddar cheese. Or is it considered orange? Anyways, I would have used that family of cheese instead. Also, don't get to small with your bread crumbs. Let them be a little bit chunkier. Other then that this recipe was awesome.


Ingredients

• 2 1/2 cups uncooked elbow macaroni
• 6 tablespoons butter, divided
• 1/4 cup all purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 2 cups milk
• 8 ounces process American cheese, cubed
• 1 1/3 cups small-curd cottage cheese
• 2/3 cup sour cream
• 2 cups (8 ounces) shredded sharp cheddar cheese
• 1 1/2 cups soft bread crumbs

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cook macaroni according to package directions; drain. Meanwhile, in a saucepan, melt 4 tablespoons butter. Stir in the flour, salt and sugar until smooth; gradually stir in milk. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened.

Reduce heat; add American cheese, stirring until melted. Stir in cottage cheese and sour cream.

Drain pasta; place in a greased 2 1/2 quart baking dish. Spoon cheese sauce over pasta; toss to coat. Sprinkle with cheddar cheese. Melt remaining butter and toss with bread crumbs; sprinkle over top. Cover with tin foil and bake for 20 minutes. Take the tin foil off and bake uncovered for an additional 10 minutes or until the cheese is completely melted.

Recipe from Taste of Home Winning Recipes