This is a midwestern, custard-style mac and cheese that can be cut into squares like lasagna. It's easy to put together and holds well in the oven when it needs to. It's also flexible to adapt to your family's personal tastes or to your available ingredients.
Ingredients:
1lb elbow macaroni, cooked al dente. Can substitute other types of pasta.
1lb sharp cheddar cheese, sliced. Can substitute other cheeses according to personal taste or substitute shredded cheddar.
1lb frozen broccoli florets, thawed and drained. Can substitute fresh broccoli, steamed and cooled.
8-10 eggs -- amounting to 1.5-2 cups of egg. Tonight I used 9 eggs, ranging from Popcorn's medium to Chipotle's not-quite-extra-large.
About 4 cups milk or a little more.
Salt to taste.
Fresh-ground black pepper to taste.
Garlic powder to taste (optional).
Coat an 11"x15" lasagna pan with non-stick spray or melted butter.
Break the eggs into an 8-cup measuring cup then add milk to bring the level up to 6 cups.
Beat eggs and milk together thoroughly. (I like to use an immersion blender).
Spread half the macaroni in the pan. Cover it with 1/3 of the cheese. Sprinkle lightly with salt and fresh-ground pepper.
Repeat with the other half of the macaroni and another 1/3 of the cheese.
Spread broccoli florets over the top, breaking them into bite-size pieces. Sprinkle lightly with garlic powder if desired.
Cover the broccoli with the rest of the cheese. Sprinkle lightly with salt and pepper.
Pour the egg and milk mixture into the pan. It should come up close to the top of the broccoli. If necessary, make more mix using a proportion of 3 large eggs for every 2 cups milk.
Bake in a 350F oven for approximately 1 hour or until custard is set and cheese is lightly browned.
This holds well at 200F if necessary and stays hot for a long time, making it a great potluck dish.
It can be served as a side dish (I'm having pork chops tonight), or as a vegetarian main dish. You can also incorporate diced ham or chicken in the top layer if desired for an all-in-one meal.
Makes about 12 servings.
Tip: This can be expanded to serve more or shrunk to serve less. Just keep the custard proportions the same and remember to use a wide, flat pan rather than a deep pan because otherwise the edges will be overdone before the middle is set.
Tip: If the pan seems overly-full put a baking sheet on the rack below to catch drips in case it boils over.
Tip: You can substitute cauliflower for the broccoli, though the color will be dull. I do not recommend subbing either spinach or zucchini because the custard is likeley to turn out unappealingly wet.
Tip: A great way to use pullet eggs, bantam eggs, jumbo eggs, and other eggs that don't fit neatly into the large egg recipe standard.
Enjoy!
