Let's Eat With Hadrian III - Sublime Mac & Cheese

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Oh, I know, you don't like cottage cheese. Or you don't like sour cream. I'd say make this and have your world rocked, but I can't make any promises. I assure you, though, if you dig mac & cheese, this is profoundly good.

One of the secrets to mac & cheese, like with lasagna, is that it's better the next day than right out of the oven. Of course you can't resist, at the least, taking a bite or two ... but, for some reason, the transcendency of this dish develops overnight between days one and two (not that it isn't incredibly bodacious as soon as those delicate little noodles reach a temperature where they don't incinerate the flesh of your mouth.

I think the simple secret is that the cottage cheese and sour cream combine with the other cheeses to create a creaminess that can sometimes be lacking in traditional oven-baked mac & cheese (sometimes a little on the dry side).

As with most mac & cheese recipes, you can add additional (sharp) cheeses (Gruyère, for instance) to boost the cheesy flavor if that's your bag - it is mine.

This recipe is super easy to make and really good. Best part is it doesn't require the assimilation of a roux (flour/butter mixture slowly liquified into a "gravy" by milk/cream and long-term stirring - the cottage cheese and sour cream stomp all over your little milky roux).

1 (8 ounce) package elbow macaroni
1 (8 ounce) package shredded sharp Cheddar cheese
1 (12 ounce) container small curd cottage cheese
1 (8 ounce) container sour cream
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
salt and pepper to taste
1 cup dry bread crumbs
1/4 cup butter, melted

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil, add pasta, and cook until done; drain.
In 9x13 inch baking dish, stir together macaroni, shredded Cheddar cheese, cottage cheese, sour cream, Parmesan cheese, salt and pepper. In a small bowl, mix together bread crumbs and melted butter. Sprinkle topping over macaroni mixture.
Bake 30 to 35 minutes, or until top is golden.