
For similarly strategic reasons, alternatives include other small and groovy pasta shapes such as conchiglie (shells) and campanelle (bells). Place the dish directly on the grill grate, and. Mix all the ingredients and transfer to an oven-safe dish such as an aluminum pan, glass baking dish, or cast-iron skillet. Once the sauce, pasta, and other toppings are ready, preheat the Traeger to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Its curves and grooves catch and hold onto sauce, maximizing cheesiness with every bite. The final smoke for assembled smoked mac and cheese will take 30 minutes. Elbow macaroni is designed to hold thick, creamy sauces. Cheese sauce is too heavy for many pastas, causing them to clump. More than a matter of tradition or aesthetics, it's a question of engineering. Since then, elbow macaroni has remained the standard. However, it was Kraft that truly popularized the dish made with elbow macaroni when it launched its boxed version in 1937. In 1802, he was said to have served mac and cheese at a state dinner. Mac and cheese allegedly arrived in America courtesy of Thomas Jefferson, who returned from a European jaunt laden down with pasta recipes - and a pasta-making machine.

Known as hörni, these ancestors of elbow macaroni were shaped like the horns of Alpine ibex. Graham traces mac and cheese's probable beginnings to the Swiss Alps where shepherds often combined home-made cheeses with pasta. In " Macaroni cheese's mysterious origins," pasta sleuth Adam H.
