Macaroni and cheese is hands down my all time favorite dish. I’ll eat it breakfast, lunch, or dinner, any day of the year. From the Kraft blue box to potluck macaroni casseroles, I love them all. I also love the leftovers. Which is exactly what inspired this dish.

I was toodling around my kitchen one day, scrounging up some lunch before heading into a long restaurant shift, and I pulled the remains of some macaroni and cheese from the fridge. It looked a little dry, so I added a little tomato sauce to loosen it up. As I took my first bite, I thought, “Wow, this combination tastes a lot like a mozzarella stick.” And after some crazed tinkering, here we are.

I’m not going to lie to you, this dish is decadent. And more than a little bit kooky. But it is a great addition to a potluck, dinner with kids, or a game day snack table.