A great game day or winter comfort food dish, Buffalo Wing Mac & Cheese.

How about making a casserole with great cheeses, pasta and buffalo wing flavor. Winner dish.

You can create a mix of your favorite cheddars, asiago, American, Cooper, fontina, Gruyere cheeses for this recipe and then simply add your favorite hot sauce or wing sauce as a garnish.

However, our family friends at Keystone Farms Cheese have a Buffalo Wing Cheddar Cheese with a mild wing taste that I find makes this dish inviting and delicious to those that like a strong kick to their wings and to those that order mild wings at their favorite pub.

Spicy, melty, you choose the cheeses, ooey-gooey, rich, comforting, party time, game time, family and friends time, make in advance casserole, crock pot easy, and no leftovers. I can go on and on about this fun dish to make.

Cook the chicken and pasta ahead of time. Clean up as you go for little to no fuss the day of serving.

Welcome in the season of winter with this classic mac and cheese crock pot or casserole dish.

Buffalo Wing Mac & Cheese

3 cups of whole milk

¼ cup of all-purpose flour

3 tablespoons of unsalted butter

½ teaspoon of mustard powder

2 tablespoons of Frank’s Red Hot Original Sauce

Pinch of cayenne pepper

8 ounces of cheddar cheese, shredded. (I use the 2 year aged Keystone Farms cheddar.)

8 ounces of Buffalo Wing Jack cheese, shredded

12 ounces of penne or your favorite pasta, cooked to al dente

2 chicken breasts (bone-in and skin-on), cooked and diced

Salt and pepper to taste

Prepare pasta to al dente. Drain and set aside. Preheat oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit.

To prepare the sauce, first melt butter in a large saucepan. Add the flour. Turn the heat to medium and cook for about 3-5 minutes until the raw flour taste is cooked out. Add the milk slowly, so lumps form, whisking. Add seasonings. Cook the sauce until thickened about 5-10 minutes.

Turn off the heat and add the cheeses, setting one cup of cheese mix aside for the top. Add your pasta and diced chicken. Mix everything together and place into a buttered casserole dish. Sprinkle the cheese on the top. Bake for 15-20 minutes uncovered at 425 degrees Fahrenheit on convection or 450 degrees Fahrenheit on conventional.

Serve hot out of the oven with your favorite green vegetable, tossed salad and bread if desired.

Sarah Schweitzer is dual-certified in Culinary Arts and Baking & Pastry from the Escoffier School of Culinary Arts. She is a former prep and line cook for Executive Chef David Crespo at “Fresh Kitchen by Robert Irvine” in the new Downtown Allentown Market. She can be reached at sarah.schweitzer18@gmail.com.