Macaroni and Cheese

Tonight my sister wanted me to kick it old school with some mac and cheese and so i obligingly said yes.  This meal may not be too high on the health meter but it definitely lives up to your childhood memories of the perfect meal.  I got this recipe off the website fortheloveofthesouth.com I would highly recommend checking them out, they have some good recipes, you should also check out food 52.  Right now on food 52 cookbooks are going head to head in a heated battle called the piglet, if you want to check that out it is fun for the cookbook lovers.  Also if you are in the foodie niche you may recognize some big names on the judging panel, so what I'm trying to say is, a. the 16 cookbooks that made it onto the list are really good ones and b. the cookbook that brings home the bacon (wins the piglet) is a must buy and no I do not work for or am affiliated in any way to food 52, I just really enjoy their blog.  Anyway I have blathered on quite enough so here is the recipe, keep in mind that I did alter the recipe to suit my fancy and if you want the original recipe you will have to go to fortheloveofthesouth.com

Mac and Cheese

3/4 of a pound of rice pasta shells (you could use any type of pasta, wheat, spelt...)
4 tbsp Butter
4 tbsp Spelt Flour (you can also use wheat flour)
2 C Almond Milk (you can also use cows, soy or rice milk)
2 C Freshly Grated Cheddar
1 Jalapeno Seeded and Diced

Cook the pasta in salted water (the saltier your water, the better your final pasta will taste so make sure it tastes like the ocean) until it is al dente.  Once it is cooked keep 1 cup of pasta water, strain the pasta and keep warm.  For the sauce, in a medium saucepan on medium-low heat, melt butter and add flour to pan. Cook for 1 minute to cook out the “flour” taste. Add milk and whisk out any lumps. The mixture will begin to thicken after a few minutes. Season with salt, pepper and cayenne. The sauce should be taken off the heat whenever the sauce can coat the back of a spoon. Take off heat and whisk in the cheese. and the jalapeno Add the pasta with a little bit of pasta water. Mix to combine. Enjoy :)