I’ve been wondering what to do with the GIANT bag of shredded mozzarella cheese sitting in my fridge. Sometimes the best recipes come from using stuff up with what I have. In fact, raiding your fridge or pantry is a great way to reduce food waste. And this Italian mac and cheese is no exception. No cheese will ever be wasted in my house! The cheese sauce is creamy and decadent, made with butter, milk, mozzarella cheese, parmesan cheese, and some fresh parsley. The breadcrumb topping – oh boy. A mixture of breadcrumbs, butter, more parmesan and parsley, and garlic powder. And when the two meet, it’s heaven. The time-saving trick for this recipe is that it’s broiled for only a few minutes after sprinkling the breadcrumbs on top, as opposed to baked. This does two things: 1) saves tons of time, and 2) doesn’t dry out the mac and cheese! And using an oven-safe skillet to cook the sauce AND broil the mac and cheese saves on dishes. Here are the details.
How to make Italian Mac and Cheese
Just mix up the cheese sauce, stir in cooked pasta, top with breadcrumbs, and broil!
Tips and Tricks
Cook the pasta until al dente and drain, but don’t rinse off any water clinging to the pasta. Any extra water will integrate with the sauce and help it stick to the pasta, as well as thin it out a bit.When broiling, keep an eye on it. Scoot the pan around a bit so the breadcrumbs toast evenly. If you take it out and realize they were not toasted evenly, you can use a spoon to evenly distribute the toasty breadcrumbs around the top of the mac and cheese. And make sure it doesn’t burn!When you take it out of the oven, place a handle cover on the handle of the skillet you used. I’ve grabbed a hot handle from the oven absentmindedly more times than I can count… which is not very fun!
If you don’t have an oven-safe skillet
You can bake this mac and cheese in a baking dish. Just transfer the pasta and cheese mixture to a lightly greased 9×13 baking dish and sprinkle with breadcrumbs. If your baking dish isn’t broiler safe (and it’s likely not, if it’s glass or ceramic), just bake at 450 degrees F for 10-15 minutes until breadcrumbs are toasty. And if you’re in the market for a great oven-safe skillet, I LOVE this Calphalon Tri Ply 5 qt. pan– the deep sides make it easy to mix up your favorite pasta without making a huge mess and it cleans and cooks really well.
Can this mac and cheese be made ahead?
Yes it can! BUT, with a caveat. You would need to bake it for longer to reheat it, which will result in dryer mac and cheese. Still delicious, though! (Please note: I have not personally tried this with this particular recipe.)
Refrigerator instructions
You can assemble the mac and cheese in a lightly greased 9×13 baking dish and cover with foil and refrigerate for 2-3 days. When you are ready to bake, bake covered with foil at 350 degrees for 30 minutes, then uncover and crank the temp up to 450 and bake for 10-15 more minutes, until breadcrumbs are toasted (or broil, if your pan is broiler safe).
Freezer instructions
You can freeze the assembled mac and cheese and either defrost for 24 hours before baking using the refrigerator instructions above, or bake directly from the freezer. Bake the frozen mac and cheese covered with foil at 350 degrees for an hour, then uncover and bake at 450 until breadcrumbs are toasted (or broil, if your pan is broiler safe). Keep in mind, the longer the mac and cheese is in the oven, the more likely it is to dry out a bit.
Ingredient Substitutions
Dried Italian Seasoning may be substituted for the fresh parsley- use 1 teaspoon in the cheese sauce and 1 teaspoon in the breadcrumb mixture.Panko or regular breadcrumbs can be used- just make sure they’re unseasoned (or you can use Italian Style Seasoned Bread crumbs and omit the extra herbs in the breadcrumb mixture).Any small or medium pasta can be used, such as macaroni, small penne, small shells, rotini, etc. Whole wheat or regular is fine.Romano, asagio, or another aged hard cheese can be used in place of or mixed in with the parmesan.Olive oil may be used in place of the butter.
Add protein
It’s easy to add cooked Italian sausage, ground beef or turkey, or another protein to this mac and cheese to make it heartier! Just add it when you add the pasta to the cheese sauce. You could also use leftover roast chicken, or canned chickpeas or white beans for a vegetarian version.
Other Italian Pasta Recipes
Pasta e Fagioli (pasta with beans)5-ingredient Pasta with Bolognese SauceChicken Piccata Pasta with Green BeansSpaghetti with Burrata and VeggiesEasy Spaghetti alla Carbonara
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