Step 1: Ingredients (makes 24 Mac ‘n’ Cheese Pizza cups)

For Mac ‘n’ Cheese:

• 2 1/2 cups dry elbow macaroni
• 3 3/4 cups sharp cheddar cheese shredded
• 3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons, mozzarella, shredded
• 1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon Parmesan cheese, grated
• 5 tablespoons butter, softened
• 5 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 3/4 cup whole milk
• 3 tablespoons sea salt (for water, when boiling macaroni)

For Pizza Cups:

• 60-70 slices of pepperoni (sliced into halves, for a total of 120-140 half pepperoni slices)
• 3/4 cup pizza sauce (I love the one from Trader Joe’s in the refrigerated section)
• 1 1/2 cup mozzarella, shredded

If you’re buying pre-made or frozen mac’n’cheese, skip this step.

For Mac ‘n’ Cheese:

• Bring water to boil and add 3 tablespoons sea salt into the water (or add more if needed to make the water salty).
• Cook the macaroni according to package instructions (preferably to al dente, tender by chewy)
• Drain the pasta in a colander.In saucepan, on medium-low heat, add 5 tablespoons of butter to the pan and allow it to melt all the way down.
• Slowly add the flour and cayenne pepper and whisk with the butter to make the roux. Be sure to whisk constantly to get the mixture going!
• Once the flour and butter mixture is a thicker consistency and is browned (with nice nutty aromas in the air), then slowly add the milk and keep whisking until it is a gravy.
• Add all the shredded and grated cheeses (Cheddar, Mozzarella and Parmesan) into the gravy mixture and use wooden spoon to mix until the cheese sauce is thickened.
• Add salt and pepper to taste.
• Add in cooked macaroni and use wooden spoon to mix until just combined (do not over mix otherwise the cheese won’t be stringy and will start to crumble instead).

• I use a mini cupcake pan with 24 tin slots.
• Pre-heat oven to 400F degrees.
• From this point, if you prefer not to have pepperoni you can fill each mini cupcake tin with mac ‘n’ cheese and grind some pepper and it’s ready for the oven.
• Take each mini cupcake tin with 5-6 half slices of pepperoni. The oil from the pepperoni will naturally stick to the side of the tin.
• Make sure that the part of the half circle of the pepperoni is sticking up (the pepperoni kind of looks like flower petals!)

• Bake for about 15-18 minutes. Then turn the broiler to high and place the tray to the upper rack close to the broiler. Broil for about 3-5 minutes, but keep a close eye on them because the cheese can burn before you know it. You want the cheese to bubble and start to brown slightly before removing from oven.
• Allow the mini cups to sit for about 5-10 minutes to cool (otherwise they will fall apart if you remove them from the mold immediately). Use a plastic spoon and fork to work around the edges and scoop each one out of the tins.