The ham and cheese macaroni recipe

Something a little different, for a special occasion... ham does taste great in macaroni and cheeese!

What you will need for this:

* 1 lb. macaronis or other favorite short pasta
* 2 tablespoons (30 ml) of butter
* 1 onion, chopped to small bits
* 1.5 cups diced, cooked ham
* 1.5 cups of white all purpose flour
* 3 cups milk (or 2 cups milk and 1 cup 15% cream)
* 2 teaspoons dijon mustard (or mustard powder if Dijon is unavailable)
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* a few turns of freshly ground black pepper
* 1 tablespoon hot sauce (louisiana or Tabasco style)
* 1 lb. of grated extremely old orange cheddar
* 1/2 cup bits of bread without the crusts, crumbled
* 1/2 cup grated Parmesan

Making this recipe:

1. In a saucepan, melt the butter under medium heat setting. Add the onion and the ham and cook during about 5 minutes or until the onion softens. Mix in the flour and cook, by tossing with the aid of a whisk, during 1 minute. Gradually add the milk, while stirring constantly, and cook, while stirring often, during about 8 minutes or until the sauce thickens. Add dijon mustard, salt, pepper, hot sauce and cheddar and mix to blend until the cheese melts and incorporates itself to the sauce.
Check your seasonning of the sauce and adjust.

2. In the meantime, in your favorite pot to boil pasta, add a pinch of salt to the water, cook pasta fur about 8 minutes or until they are al dente. Drain your pasta and allow them to cool down a little bit. Add the pasta to the macaroni and chese and toss to coat them well.

3. Preheat your oven to 325 F. Pour the macaroni with its ham/cheese sauce in an oven-going pan. Sprinkle all your parmesan on top and bake in the oven for about 15 minutes, or until the baked cheese on top has formed a nice 'au gratin' crust.