everything bagel mac & cheese Serves 4

To prepare for the birth of my baby this spring, I am filling my freezer with freezer meals these days and I've been told that the two best things to have in your freezer when a baby arrives are things you can eat with one hand (I'm planning to make lots of veggie burritos and muffins) and super hearty comforting dishes, like this mac and cheese!

During this pregnancy, I've dealt with many different cravings including cold midwest tap water (it has to be cold from the tap, iced is too cold, and midwest water is so good), cream cheese — anything as a vehicle for cream cheese — matzo, tater tots, cashews, cold carrots and bagels. My craving for bagels was sky high during my first trimester but our options in Grand Forks for super chewy dough bagels are very limited, so when a friend of mine in New York heard about my craving she surprised me with a shipment of Black Seed Bagels. I nearly cried. They are so chewy and delicious.

This recipe is a perfect hearty way to satisfy my cravings for bagels and cream cheese!

ingredients:

½ pounds pasta (I prefer rigatoni)

Olive oil

¼ cup unsalted butter

½ yellow onion, finely chopped

Kosher salt

¼ cup all-purpose flour

2 ½ cup whole milk

4 ounces cream cheese

4 ounces white cheddar or Gruyere or a mix of both, shredded

1 ounces parmesan, shredded

1 ½ teaspoons barley malt syrup, optional

Crushed red

Black pepper

½ cup chopped chives or scallions

Bonus points: 2 cut up cooked hot dogs or veggie dogs topping:

¾ c (75g) panko breadcrumbs

1 tb unsalted butter, melted

1 tb each: sesame seeds, poppy seeds, dried minced garlic, dried minced onion a few pinches of kosher salt ketchup, for serving clues:

Preheat the oven to 375ºF. Prepare the pasta according to the directions on the box, cooking for one minute less than directed. Drain, toss with a drizzle of olive oil, and set aside. In a large pot, melt the butter over medium high. Add the onions and a pinch of salt and cook, stirring until soft, 5-7 minutes. Stir in the flour and cook for 1 minute. Add 1 cup of the milk and cook, whisking continuously, until thick- ened, and then repeat with another cup, and then the remaining 1/2 cup. Add the cheese and stir until melted, and then add the barley malt syrup (if using), a few pinches of crushed red pepper, a few turns of black pepper, and salt to taste. Stir in the pasta, chives and hot dogs, if using. Transfer to an 8-inch baking dish or a dish that’s a similar size. In a medium bowl, mix together the breadcrumbs and melted butter and then distribute it over the top of the mac and cheese. Combine the sesame seeds, poppy seeds, dried minced onion, dried minced garlic and salt in that same medium bowl and sprinkle it liberally over the top. Bake for 25 minutes, or until golden brown on top. Let cool slightly and then serve with ketchup.

Molly Yeh

is the star of Food Network’s new series “Girl Meets Farm.” Her memoir, “Molly On The Range: Recipes and Stories from an Unlikely Life on a Farm,” earned her a place on the New York Times top releases of Fall 2016, became winner of the International Association of Culinary Professionals judge’s award, and was selected by NPR as one of their “Great Reads of 2016.” Yeh followed with the release of the book “Yogurt,” featuring recipes dedicated to an ingredient she calls “the duct tape of food.” Yeh is the creator of the acclaimed lifestyle food blog mynameisyeh.com. She has been featured in the New York Times, Food & Wine, Bon Appetit, and New York Magazine, and has contributed to Vanity Fair, Saveur, Condé Nast Traveler, Food52, and The Jewish Daily Forward. She was named to Forbes’ 30 under 30 list for 2017 and Apartment Therapy’s 10 under 40 list. Outside the kitchen, Yeh is a Juilliard-trained percussionist and has performed with orchestras around the world, in off-Broadway theater, and as the glockenspielist for the pop-band San Fermin. She lives on a farm on the North Dakota-Minnesota border with her fifth-generation farmer husband and their little flock of chickens.