Microwave Mac and Cheese

Janne A.

I made this the other night and love it!  Tried it 'cause it's too hot to use the oven and I was craving macaroni and cheese big time. Only reason I'll make it in the oven again is to save a little money on electricity (I don't pay for gas).  It came out exactly like baked! Full disclosure: I tweaked the ingredients, mostly b/c I didn't have what was listed. Half and half mixed with equal parts water instead of milk, sour cream for the cream cheese, processed American cheese 'cause I prefer it. You don't need flour because the pasta retains all its starch and mixes with the milk and cheese and presto - cheese sauce. Come to think of it, I don't miss the butter at all. I used to make my cheese sauce with a flour and butter roux. Fun to do, but work. A tip from my experience: for the first go-round in the microwave, the top layer of pasta was dried out. I think I made the slit in the plastic wrap too big. So I added a little water and stirred all those elbows down into the wet zone. I think it's also key to wrap the bowl tightly for the rest of the nuking to keep the moisture in and make it creamy. I guess if you cook it too long the plastic might burst but mine didn't. I kept an eye on it and if it looked like it was bubbling up too much I just stopped it for a second or two before resuming. Oh yeah, another thing. I let it sit awhile between steps so the glass bowl would be easier to handle. I think this enhanced the process by letting the pasta absorb the liquid more fully, resulting in a finished product that truly seems baked. Now I'm psyched to experiment with other pasta dishes in the microwave!<br />