Pan Fried Macaroni and Cheese (with HAM!)

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♼ Recipe origin is unknown. Pan fried macaroni and cheese with ham recipe, recipe Rating: 4.5
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This is some serious man food…none of that prissy sauces and baking crap! Read the entire recipe and prepare EVERYTHING beforehand. Once you start frying, you can’t stop and you have to move fast. Also, you’ll need a large (12-inch) skillet for all this, otherwise you’ll have to do it in batches

Ready in: 20 mins

Ingredients

Serves: 1

• 2 cups dry macaroni pasta
• 1 cup diced ham
• 1/4 cup butter
• 1/2 tablespoon garlic powder
• 1/2 tablespoon onion powder
• 1/2 tablespoon dried basil
• pinch cayenne pepper
• 2 oz Parmesan cheese
• 8 oz shredded cheeses

Preparation method

Prep: 5 mins | Cook: 15 mins

1. Boil the macaroni in salted water or chicken stock or whatever sounds good. The pasta should be cooked to al dente, about 7 minutes.

2. While that is cooking, put the butter, ham, and all the seasonings in a skillet over low heat, just enough to melt the butter. Personally, I just set my skillet on top of the pot the macaroni is boiling in…the steam is enough to preheat the skillet and melt the butter.

3. When the macaroni is done, splash a little of the boiling stock into the skillet before you drain the macaroni. Anywhere from a couple of teaspoons to a half a cup is good. This is really optional, anyways. Set the skillet on the hot burner (high heat) and go drain the macaroni. Don’t take too long.

4. Now throw the macaroni in the skillet with the ham and stuff and stir it up. I use a 12-inch omelet pan so I can flip it around, but that only works with nonstick. This is going to stick…that’s okay.

5. Now grate a little fresh Parmesan over the whole works and mix it in. Repeat a couple times until there is a light coat of Parmesan on everything. Keep stirring it and scraping the bottom…those golden brown pieces that are sticking are the yummy parts.

6. Now dump the remaining cheeses in, the 8 ounces of whatever cheeses you want. I used one of those Mexican shredded cheese mixes, but almost anything would work.

7. Take the skillet off the heat, stir it up a little, and dump it onto a plate or something and eat it. If you can work some black pepper into it as some point, that’ll help too.