Ventura Spice Mac and Cheese

We call this recipe the two cup mac and cheese, and it’s made so much in our house the recipe is memorized!

• 2 cups of pasta
• 2 cups of cheese
• 2 cups of sour cream
• 2 tablespoons of butter
• 2 tablespoons of Ventura Spice
• 1 - 2 cups of croutons

See two cups macaroni and cheese! (And seeing that typed out, we realize it could also be called one cup macaroni and cheese!)

When we first learned this technique it blew our minds! The sour cream simply mixed with grated cheese is so easy! And of course, adding our own twist with Ventura Spice was a no brainer as its herby savory slightly sweet flavor balances the richness and creaminess of this dish!

And the two cup ratio of this recipe makes it so easy to multiple this simple mac and cheese recipe for large crowds! As written, the recipe feeds 4 as a main dish and 8 as a side dish.

Vegetarian Mac and Cheese: This baked mac and cheese recipe is naturally vegetarian.

Gluten-Free Mac and Cheese: With a simple switch to gluten-free pasta, this recipe becomes a gluten-free macaroni and cheese recipe!

Ingredients

Pasta: This recipe calls for elbow macaroni, but really any pasta with nooks and crannies to hold the sauce will work.

Cheese: Cheese is what makes macaroni and cheese, macaroni and cheese! So what’s the best cheese for macaroni and cheese? Any really good cheese that will melt! We love to use a sharp cheddar as well as a nutty cheese like gouda. But we’ve been known to use 4 or 5 cheeses at a time! Muenster, parmesan, fontina, jack cheeses, even a creamy cheese like brie will work! If you have a few pieces of different cheeses hanging around in your fridge, macaroni and cheese is an excellent way to use them up!

Sour Cream: Looking for a creamy mac and cheese recipe? The sour cream in this recipe replaces a traditional bechamel sauce and turns out as creamy as can be. Forget the bechamel sauce, skip several steps by using sour cream instead! And the slight tang it adds is a nice addition to macaroni and cheese.

Ventura Spice: Our customers tell us they sprinkle Ventura Spice on everything! It certainly shines in this recipe! Created from the flavors of Ventura, this hand-blended organic seasoning blend has notes of onion, garlic, and herbs, with just a touch of strawberry and chile flakes which balances out the richness of this recipe.

Croutons: Instead of breadcrumbs, which can be plain and boring, we used roughly crushed homemade croutons. Find our favorite homemade crouton recipe right here:

Technique:

The method for making this creamy homemade macaroni and cheese recipe is simple. Just keep these few steps in mind:

• Undercook your pasta by 1 - 2 minutes. It will continue to cook as it’s mixed into the sauce and baked.
• Do not use pre-grated cheeses for this recipe. Pre-grated cheese has added starch which can keep it from melting well.
• Stir together the sour cream and grated cheese before adding it to the pasta. We’ve tried taking the shortcut of simply throwing in the cheese, butter, and sour cream at the same time and the sauce just doesn’t come together as well.
• When broiling the macaroni and cheese to brown the topping, don’t walk away! Dedicate that one to two minutes to making sure you don’t end up with blackened macaroni and cheese!

That’s all! This is really a simple and delicious recipe!