I started with Alton Brown's recipe, but tweaked to my liking. The key and most integral part and real secret is super under boiling the pasta.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
In a large pot of boiling, salted water cook the pasta to VERY al dente. Really, half cook it.
While the pasta is cooking, in a separate pot, melt the butter. Whisk in the flour and mustard and keep it moving for about five minutes. Make sure it's free of lumps. Stir in the milk, onion, bay leaf, paprika, and hot sauce. Simmer for ten minutes and remove the bay leaf.
Temper in the egg. Stir in 3/4 of the cheese. Season with salt and pepper. Fold the macaroni into the mix and pour into a 2-quart casserole dish. Top with remaining cheese.
Melt the butter in a saute pan and mix the bread crumbs to get a sandy consistency. Top the macaroni with the bread crumbs. Bake for 30 minutes. Remove from oven and rest for five minutes before serving.
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