1-First, preheat your oven to 325 degrees F and grease a 3-quart baking dish that’s about 9×13 inches to prevent sticking.

2-Then, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and add 1 pound of dried elbow pasta, cooking it 1 minute less than the package says for al dente texture.

3-Drain the pasta and toss it with a bit of olive oil to keep it from clumping.

4-Next, shred the cheeses and divide them: use 3 cups for the sauce, 1 1/2 cups for an inner layer, and 1 1/2 cups for the topping.

5-In a saucepan, melt 1/2 cup of unsalted butter over medium heat, then whisk in 1/2 cup of all-purpose flour and cook for about 1 minute to make a roux.

6-Graduallly whisk in 2 1/2 cups of half and half along with 1 1/2 cups of whole milk until it’s smooth and starts to thicken, aiming for a consistency like semi-thinned condensed soup.

7-Remove the saucepan from heat and stir in 1/2 tablespoon of salt, 1/2 teaspoon of black pepper, 1/4 teaspoon of smoked paprika, and half the cheese for the sauce until everything melts together nicely.

8-Combine the cooked pasta with this cheese sauce, then layer half of it in your prepared baking dish, add the inner cheese layer, top with the rest of the pasta mixture, and finish with the remaining cheese.

9-Bake for 15 minutes until it’s bubbly and lightly golden on top.