The first time I made this baked mac and cheese, I thought the amount of sauce was too much. Being the pake Chinese I was, I added more than the one pound of elbow pasta. I decided I could stretch it out and make a pound and a half.

That was a mistake. My son told me, “Mommy, Aunty Felicia’s mac and cheese is better!” I told him, “Fine! Get her to make it for you from now on!” and went off to sulk.

Well, hellooo? It was my own fault for being cheap by trying to stretch it. I had lost the rich, decadent flavor that was the point of this whole mac and cheese recipe! So the next time around, having learnt my lesson, I stuck to only one pound of pasta (which, by the way, still makes a LOT of mac and cheese).

I did adapt it a little this time but not in a way that makes it less tasty. Instead of gruyere, I used Parmesan (I actually prefer the flavor of Parmesan). And instead of fresh breadcrumb, I used panko (Felicia was the one who gave me that tip) and increased the amount because who doesn’t like a nice breadcrumb topping!

The outcome? Absolutely delicious. My son wolfed it all down and asked for seconds AND thirds! There you go, it’s been given his seal of approval.