Yummy Homemade Macaroni and Cheese

Bethany received a kids cookbook for her birthday. Our friend, Becky knows Bethany loves to cook and in fact they have cooked together on occasion. The cookbook is called Let's Cook! by Pamela Gwyther. I look forward to more times of cooking together with Bethany and Becky!

We've made the Perfect Pasta twice now with raving reviews.
Here's what you'll need to make it:
9 oz pasta
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 stick or 1/4 cup butter
5 tbsp all purpose flour
1 3/4 c. milk
1 c Cheddar cheese, grated
4 1/2 oz cooked ham, roughly chopped
4 cherry tomatoes, cut into quarters
salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/4 c Parmesan cheese, freshly grated

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Heat some water in a large pan. Add salt and bring to boil.
2. Add pasta carefully and cook pasta according to package directions.
3. Gently melt the butter in a pan over low heat. Add flour and mix well. Cook mixture for 1 minute and then remove from heat.
4. Stir in milk (I use dry powdered milk and water), a little at a time, to make a smooth sauce. Put pan back on heat. Stir while the sauce thickens so it doesn't get lumpy.
5. When the sauce boils, turn down heat and cook, stirring for 1-2 minutes. Remove from heat. Mix the Cheddar, ham and tomatoes. Season.
6. Drain the pasta. Mix with the sauce. Place in oven safe dish and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Bake in oven, on a baking sheet, for 20-25 minutes.

Side note: The first time we made it, I had some ham but no tomatoes. Tonight when I made it, I had neither of those things, but it was still delicious. We had raw veggies on the side.