Mini mac and cheese

We went to a kick off the summer party this past weekend.  We brought the appetizers.  We narrowed it down to three things.  Our favorite was the mini macaroni and cheese.  The girls looked at a bunch of recipes.  Although we wanted to substitute Gruyere for American cheese...we read that was a no no for minis because the pasta won't stick together to create the mini. 

The taste is classic old fashioned gooey mac and glue.  Not the high end fancy stuff.  Here goes...

1 lb. elbow macaroni
3 T unsalted butter
1/2 cup grated Parmigiana
4 T flour
1 1/2 cup milk - I used 2%
8 ounces grated white cheddar cheese - sharp
8 ounces deli-sliced (swear) American cheese - I used white again
2 large egg yolks
1/2 paprika

Preheat the oven to 425. 

Put the elbow macaroni in large boiling salted water, cook about 5 minutes, until al dente, drain and keep to the side.

Use non-stick mini-muffin tins.  We sprayed them with something like Pam.  This recipe makes about 48 minis.  Take the Parm and sprinkle into the bottoms of the tins to coat the bottom.

In a large saucepan, melt the butter.  Then whisk in the flour for about 2 minutes.  Whisk in the milk and cook (keep whisking) until this boils.  Then add in the cheese.  It gets super thick so we went back and forth between the wooden spoon and whisk.  In the end, you should be using the whisk.  After all the cheese is melted, take off the heat and whisk in the egg yolks and paprika.  Fold in the macaroni.

Spoon the macaroni in the tins.  Sprinkle more parmigiano on top of the macaroni.  Bake for about 10 minutes or until they are golden and sizzling.

You can make them earlier in the day.  I'd suggest warming them up before serving.