Double-Cheesy Baked Mac & Cheese

We are cheese fiends. All of us, well, with the exception of baby J who is too little to have cheese! Between my husband, our daughter and myself, we go through a ridiculous amount of cheese every week. And not just cheddar - our cheese drawer is filled with all kinds of cheesy deliciousness... brie, blue, gruyere, parmesan, chevre, asiago... at any given time we surely have at least a half dozen different cheeses in the fridge. Heck, we've even made homemade ricotta... but that's a post for another time!

This recipe came about as a way to use up a large assortment of small pieces of cheese, pieces that aren't quite enough to really do something with individually, but are still too delicious to waste. This is an easily-adapted recipe for whatever cheese you happen to have on hand, and despite the fact that cheese often doesn't freeze well, we have found that this recipe is great to freeze before baking. To reheat, simply place in a cool oven, set temperature and bake until bubbly and golden on top.

Double-Cheesy Baked Mac & Cheese

1 lb pasta, uncooked
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp ground mustard
1/2 tsp worcestershire sauce
2 cups milk
8 oz old cheddar, shredded
2 oz blue cheese
4 oz gruyere or emmenthal, shredded
5-6oz "other" cheese (edam, gouda, parmesan, fontina, brie, etc), hard cheeses shredded
1 medium onion, diced

Cook pasta in boiling salted water to al dente. Drain, rinse under cool water to halt cooking and reserve.

In a medium saucepan, melt butter over medium-high heat. When bubbly, whisk in flour, salt, pepper and mustard to create a roux. Cook for a minute or so, until golden, then whisk in worcestershire sauce and milk. Lower heat and continue stirring until thick.

Add cheddar and blue cheese to the sauce, as well as any other 'soft' cheeses (brie, chevre, etc). Stir until melted. Remove from heat.

In a large bowl, combine pasta, cheese sauce, additional shredded cheeses & onion. Pour into a greased 9x13 pan, or other large casserole. Bake at 350F until bubbly & golden, about 30 minutes.