Italian Mac And Cheese Muffins Recipes

MAC AND CHEESE MUFFINS

Steps:

• Spray a 12-cup muffin tin pan with non-stick cooking spray. Sprinkle 1/2 teaspoon of bread crumbs into each muffin cup; set remaining bread crumbs aside. Gently shake pan to distribute the crumbs over the entire bottom and partially up the sides of each muffin cup.
• Cook macaroni in salted water; drain.
• While macaroni cooks, prepare cheese sauce. -- Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Remove from heat and whisk in flour. Return to heat and gradually whisk in milk. Add salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, stirring. Boil gently for about one minute, stirring constantly, until sauce is thickened.
• Reduce heat to medium-low. Add shredded cheese 1/2 cup at a time, stirring after each addition until cheese is fully melted and incorporated.
• Add cooked macaroni to cheese sauce; stir to coat macaroni thoroughly.
• Spoon about 1/2 cup macaroni and cheese mixture into each muffin tin cup, filling the cups completely. Sprinkle about 1/8 teaspoon of remaining bread crumbs on the top of each mac & cheese muffin.
• Bake at 350℉ for 18-20 minutes until tops are lightly golden browned.
• Let stand in the pan for 10 minutes. Then run a knife around the edge of each muffin to loosen. Use a fork to lift muffins out of the pan and place on a serving plate.
• Muffin Tin Mac & Cheese can easily be prepared in advance, with a couple of options: 1) Fill muffin cups with mac & cheese mixture, cover and refrigerate overnight, and bake the next day when needed. Just increase the baking time by about 5-8 minutes to account for the muffins going into the oven cold. Or, 2) Finish the muffins through the final baking step, and then reheat. To reheat, pop the muffins back into a 350℉ for about 10 to 12 minutes.
• Or FREEZE the mac & cheese muffins to make them even more in advance. Fully bake the muffins and freeze them in an airtight container. At serving time, reheat frozen muffins at 350℉ for about 20 minutes or until heated through.
• When serving as a main part of the meal (like alongside a bowl of soup), plan on 2 mac & cheese muffins per serving. When served as a side dish as part of a larger meal, plan on 1 or 2 muffins per serving -- depending on your eaters, of course!

ITALIAN MAC-N-CHEESE

Steps:

• Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Salt water and cook pasta to a chewy al dente, about 8 minutes.
• In a nonstick skillet, brown and crumble the sausage. Drain cooked crumbles on paper towel lined plate. Return pan to heat and add extra-virgin olive oil, butter, garlic and mushrooms. Season liberally with salt and pepper. Saute 3 to 5 minutes, until mushrooms are lightly golden.
• Preheat broiler to high.
• To mushrooms, add flour and stir, cooking 2 minutes. Whisk in stock, then stir in cream. Bring cream to a bubble, then stir in 2 cups of 4 cheese blend. When cheese has melted into sauce, add tomatoes. When sauce comes to a bubble, remove from heat and adjust seasonings, adding hot sauce if desired.
• Combine cheese sauce with sausage and pasta, transfer to flameproof baking dish, casserole or flameproof serving platter. Sprinkle remaining 1/2 cup of 4 cheese blend and the grated Parmesan over the top and brown under hot broiler.

MUFFIN-TIN MAC AND CHEESE CUPS

Steps:

• Heat oven to 425°F. Place foil muffin liner in each of 12 regular-size muffin cups. Spray liners with cooking spray. Cook macaroni as directed on package; drain, and set aside.
• Meanwhile, in 4-quart saucepan, melt 2 tablespoons of the butter over medium heat. Add flour, salt and pepper; cook and beat with whisk 1 to 2 minutes or until thickened. Slowly beat in milk. Heat just to boiling, stirring frequently. Remove from heat. Stir in cheese. Stir in macaroni. Divide mixture evenly among cups.
• In medium microwavable bowl, microwave remaining 2 tablespoons butter uncovered on High 60 to 90 seconds or until melted. Stir in bread crumbs and parsley. Spoon on top of mixture in cups. Gently press.
• Bake 18 to 22 minutes or until bread crumb mixture is golden brown. Let stand 5 minutes before serving.

MAC AND CHEESE MUFFINS

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
• For the panko mix: Mix the panko, Parmesan, olive oil and garlic together and set aside.
• For the mac and cheese: Cook the macaroni according to the package directions. Drain and set aside.
• In the meantime, melt the butter in a heavy-bottomed medium saucepan over medium heat. Whisk in the flour and cook for 1 minute. Add the milk and whisk constantly until the mixture thickens. Reduce the heat to low and add the Worcestershire and salt to taste. Slowly fold in the Gruyere, Cheddar and goat cheese and heat through until all the cheese is melted, about 10 minutes. Fold the cooked macaroni into the cheese mixture.
• Spray mini-muffin pans with nonstick cooking spray and dust with the panko mix. Put the muffin pans in the oven and bake until the panko is golden brown, about 2 minutes. Remove the pans and lower the temperature to 350 degrees F. Carefully fill the cups the rest of the way with the mac and cheese, packing tightly. Bake until golden brown, about 10 minutes. Sprinkle the tops with the panko mix and continue baking until the tops are golden brown, about 5 minutes more.
• Let the muffins cool before removing them from the pan. Repeat with the remaining macaroni and cheese and panko mixture.

EASY MAC AND CHEESE MUFFINS

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a muffin tin with nonstick cooking spray. In a small bowl, stir together the bread crumbs, olive oil and salt; set aside.
• Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add the macaroni and cook for about 8 minutes, it should still be a little bit firm. Remove from the heat, drain and return to the pan; stir in the butter and egg until pasta is evenly coated. Reserve 1/2 cup of sharp Cheddar cheese and stir the remaining Cheddar cheese, milk and mozzarella cheese into the pasta. Spoon into the prepared muffin tin. Sprinkle the reserved cheese and the bread crumb mixture over the tops.
• Bake for 30 minutes in the preheated oven, or until the topping is nicely browned. Allow the muffins to cool for a few minutes before removing from the pan. This will allow the cheese to set and they will hold their muffin shape.

ITALIAN THREE-CHEESE MACARONI

Steps:

• Cook macaroni according to package directions., Meanwhile, preheat oven to 350°. In a small saucepan, melt butter. Stir in flour, Italian seasoning, salt and pepper until smooth; gradually add milk. Bring to a boil; cook and stir 2 minutes or until thickened. Remove from the heat; stir in cheddar and Parmesan cheeses until melted. Drain macaroni., Spread 1 cup cheese sauce in a greased 13x9-in. baking pan. Layer with half of macaroni, tomatoes and cheese sauce. Repeat layers. Sprinkle with mozzarella cheese. Combine bread crumbs and butter; sprinkle over top., Cover and bake 40 minutes. Uncover and bake 10-15 minutes longer or until golden brown and bubbly. Let stand 5 minutes before serving.

ITALIAN HERB MUFFINS

Steps:

• In a large bowl, combine the flour, cheese, sugar, Italian seasoning, baking powder and salt. In another bowl, combine the egg, milk and oil; stir into dry ingredients just until moistened. , Fill greased or paper-lined muffin cups three-fourths full. Bake at 400° for 15-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool for 5 minutes before removing from pan to a wire rack. , In a small bowl, combine the butter and garlic powder. Serve with warm muffins.

ITALIAN MAC & CHEESE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°F
• Bring one large pot of water to a rolling boil.
• Add whole box of shells and a pinch of salt to boiling water, cover and switch to low heat.
• Spray oven safe dish with cooking spray.
• Put milk, one bag of cheese,a few dashes of pepper, the butter and a pinch of salt in the dish; mix well.
• When noodles are still firm, but partially cooked drain them and add them to the bowl of milk and other mixed ingredients.
• Stir together coating noodles in cheese mixture.
• Cook for 20 minutes.
• Add second bag of cheese and stir.
• Top with breadcrumbs and cook for 15 more minutes or until golden brown at the edges.