Incredibly cheesy, ultra creamy and topped with a crunchy Panko-Parmesan topping, this mac and cheese recipe is a keeper. I made this recipe to take to St Marys when I went down to help Robin and Andrea get their house ready to sell. I made it in 2 – 8×8 pans instead of a 9×13 so they would fit in my portable electric refrigerator.

Ingredients
– 16 ounces of small elbow macaroni cooked
– 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
– 6 tablespoons unsalted butter
-1/3 cup all purpose flour
– cups whole milk
– 1 cup heavy whipping cream
– 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
– 4 cups sharp cheddar cheese graded
– 2 cups Gruyere cheese shredded
– 4 ounces goat cheese
– salt and pepper to taste
Topping
– 1-1/2 cups panko crumbs
– 4 tablespoons butter melted
– 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese shredded
– 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
Instructions
1 – Cook pasta one minute shy of al dente according to the package instructions. Remove from heat, drain and place in a large bowl.
2 – Drizzle pasta with olive oil and stir to coat pasta. Set aside to cool.
3 – Melt butter in a large deep Dutch oven or stock pot.
4 – whisk in flour over medium heat and continue to whisk for about 2 minutes until bubbly and golden.
5 – Gradually whisk in the milk and heavy cream until nice and smooth. Continue whisking until you see bubbles on the surface and then continue cooking and whisking for another 2 minutes. Whisk in the salt and pepper.
6 – Add the goat cheese, and two cups of the shredded cheese and whisk until smooth. Add another two cups of shredded cheese and continue whisking until smooth and creamy. Sauce should be nice and thick.
7 – Stir in the cooled pasta until combined and pasta is fully coated with the cheese sauce.
8 – Spoon 1/2 of the cheese coated pasta into either an 9×13 glass baking dish, 2- 8×8 pans or 5 small aluminum pans. Sprinkle remaining cheese on top, then spoon remaining pasta into pans.
9 – in a small bowl, combine the panko crumbs, Parmesan cheese, melted butter and paprika. Sprinkle over the top.

I bought a pack of 55 disposable aluminum loaf pans with lids from Amazon. The size of the pans are 7.8″ x 4.3″ x 2″, 650ML (2.747 cups). I sprayed 5 pans with olive oil and filled them with the mac and cheese. I labeled the lids, put 2 pans each into one gallon freezer bags and then put them into the freezer.
The night before you want to bake one, take it out of the freezer and put it in the refrigerator to thaw.
To bake – pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees F, remove the lid and bake for about 30-40 minutes until the bread crumbs are nice and brown and pasta is bubbling.