When The Mister and I were courting, we weren't well off enough to afford restaurant dates. So, we would have "Fancy Dinner" which is where we cooked something we would otherwise purchase at a restaurant, but for below-restaurant prices at home. This macaroni and cheese recipe qualifies. It is more expensive to make than a sub-$1 box of store brand, however every extra penny is worth it in the taste department.

Ingredients.

• 1x 16oz box of pasta (we like rotini)
• 4 cups water
• 2 tsp Shanggie Brand Broth Mix [sub: any bullion you like, enough to make 4 cups broth]
• 2 TBSP Butter
• 1 tsp Sriracha Sauce [sub: Tabasco or any other hot pepper sauce]
• 1/2 head Garlic, cut cloves in half [sub: 1 tsp garlic powder]
• 1/2 tsp Pepper
• 1/2 tsp Kosher Salt [or just leave this out entirely if your soup base is super salty, if using any other type of salt besides Kosher then you'll want to use this conversion chart]
• 2 cups Shredded Cheese, we use Sargento Mexican Blend
• 1/2 cup Milk
• cornstarch, to taste

Materials.

• Instant Pot
• knife & cutting board
• measuring cup for water and milk
• measuring spoons
• something to stir with

Instructions.

1. Add the water (4 cups), broth mix (2 tsp), and uncooked pasta (1x 16 oz box) to your Instant Pot. Give it a good stir to homogenize the soup broth you've just created. The pasta will help the powdered broth mix dissolve.
2. Add butter (2 TBSP), Sriracha sauce (1 tsp), garlic (1/2 head, cloves halved), pepper (1/2 tsp), and Kosher salt (1/2 tsp) to the Instant Pot. Give it another good stir, but that's not entirely necessary.
3. Place the lid on the Instant Pot and set the valve to SEAL. Press the PRESSURE COOK button, selecting high pressure for 5 minutes.
4. Once the cooking is done, do a QUICK RELEASE.
5. Open the Instant Pot and add the milk (1/2 cup) and stir well.
6. Add the cheese (2 cups, shredded) to the mix in small amounts (4 small amounts), stirring in between each addition until smooth and creamy.
7. If your sauce is too thin, add cornstarch (to taste) until you reach your ideal consistency.
8. Serve and stuff yourself on restaurant quality macaroni and cheese for a fraction of what it costs to go out to a restaurant.

Notes.

We like to set the table as if it is a restaurant, with a table cloth and flatware rolled up in a napkin, set the lights down a bit lower, and put on some unobtrusive instrumental background music to set the tone that this really is Fancy Dinner, a cheap date.

If measuring the pasta from a larger container and one's kitchen scale cannot do ounces, 16 ounces is also equal to 453 grams.

Bibliography. I owe everything to The Salty Marshmallow who has an omnitarian version of this recipe, as you'll notice mine is vegetarian and kosher-style as is our household. We also allow for any pasta, lowered the amount of cheese, and allow the use of cornstarch as a thickener. Whether hers or mine, I hope this recipe makes it into your Keep Book.