Baked Vermicelli

Photo: flickr user Melissa Gray

Ingredients

4 ounces Vermicelli cooked and drained

4 tablespoons Butter

4 tablespoons Flour

1/4 cup Onion finely diced

16 ounces Evoporated Skim Milk (3 small cans)

4 ounces Colbyjack Cheese grated

4 ounces Parmesan Cheese grated

1/4 teaspoon Black Pepper, Freshly Ground

3 dsh Tabasco Sauce

1 dsh White Pepper

1 dsh Cayenne Pepper

1 dsh Ground Nutmeg

2 Eggs beaten

cup x To ½ Breadcrumbs

Preparation

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Cook vermicelli according to package directions. Drain and place into a baking dish that has been buttered, oiled or sprayed with cooking spray.

Melt butter in a sauce pan, and add onions and saute until transparent. Add flour to make a roux and cook for about 3 or 4 minutes. Add the milk and stir until hot. Remove about a cup of the milk and set aside. Add the cheeses to the saucepan and continue stirring untill the cheese has melted.

Add the spices. Gradually add the eggs to the cooled reserved milk and beat until the eggs are incorporated.

Stirring continuously, add the eggs to the saucepan a little at a time. Continue stirring and cook until the sauce begins to thicken. Pour the cheese sauce over the vermicelli and sprinkle withe the breadcrumbs. Bake for 30 minutes or until brown on top.

For a really neat looking dish, do a crust of breadcrumbs by layering the bottom and sides of the baking dish with beaten egg followed by a layer of breadcrumbs. Repeat several times. Then bake and unmold onto a serving plate.

NOTES : A variation on macaroni and cheese. We made it last night -yumm-o!