CHRISTY'S MACARONI 'N' CHEESE

Christy's Macaroni 'n' Cheese image

This is directly from her email to me. The cream of mushroom soup is the real suprise. It makes the mac'n' cheese really creamy.

Provided by Melanie B

Categories Pasta

Time 1h

Number Of Ingredients 6

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Ingredients

16 oz box of macaroni noodles (no specific kind - use noodles you like)
16 oz 2 8oz blocks of extra sharp cheddar (believe it or not, publix brand works great, kroger brand is not so hot, kraft is a bit salty)
1 can(s) condensed campbell's mushroom soup (brand name works best) i use either the reduced fat kind or the regular kind. do not use healthy request.
parmesan cheese
butter
milk

Steps:

1. Boil noodles with a little bit of salt and a couple of shakes of garlic powder. I am not sure how you'd measure the garlic powder, but I sprinkle just enough for the garlic powder to spread out on top of the water in the pan. It's not a lot. Maybe 1/4 tsp?
2. While water is heating and noodles are cooking, cut up the blocks of cheese. You will use at least 1 1/2 blocks, but you can add the rest after you mix in the cheese with the noodles.
3. Be sure to have the cheese cut up and out of the refrigerator. It melts much better. After the noodles are cooked, drain them quickly and put them back in the pot. Stir in the 1 1/2 blocks of cheese and add in about a 1/4 cup of the Parmesean cheese.
4. Cover and leave alone for at least 3-4 minutes. Stir the mac and cheese and cover again if the cheese isn't melted. This is where I would add more cheese if you wanted to. After the cheese is melted, put in about a tablespoon of butter and the mushroom soup. Stir until the butter is melted. The mixture should be pretty sticky and gooey by now. Pour in milk about 1/2 cup at a time until the cheese/mushroom soup mixture is smooth and creamy. Then put in about 1/4 cup more milk. This helps to keep the mac and cheese from getting dry.
5. Tips: You can add as much cheese as you want, but too much is going to make the whole thing like eating melted cheese. Watch the salt. The "full-fat" version of the soup has a lot of salt and so does the cheese. You can add more after you finish putting in the milk. Don't put the soup or milk in with the cheese. It will cool off the noodles just enough to keep the cheese from melting. If you have leftovers, put just a little more milk in before you put the mac and cheese in the refrigerator. It keeps everything from drying out. You just want everything to be a little thinner than it was when you put it on the table. That's it. There is no real measurement for the ingredients--people can eyeball it after a few times.
6. NOTE-One trick to getting the cheese to melt nicely is to use a heavy pan. One time I tried to make it in my pasta pot (it is a fairly thin pot) and it didn't work out too well because the pasta cooled down too quickly.