For wheat pasta, I recommend Ronzoni if you can find it. Not only does it hold up well, it’s one of the lesser expensive whole wheat pastas and it tastes good too. Or, they also have a high fiber pasta (that looks and tastes like white pasta but has all the fiber of wheat pasta.)
Start with good pasta and you’re on the right track.

Now, here’s the recipe for success, passed down from my mom and hers and so on. Cook your pasta (let’s say about 2 cups or so) till it’s just about done, still ever so slightly firm because you’re not through with it yet. Drain, don’t rinse. Stir in a spoonful of butter or margarine, just enough to lightly coat the noodles. Stir in a spoonful of flour (maybe 2Tbsp? Just enough to mix with the butter and make them slightly sticky.) Now take 6 or so slices of american sandwich cheese, fold and tear into little pieces and stir in to the pasta. Add a splash of milk and turn the heat on low. Stir the pasta until the cheese melts. You can add more cheese if you want it cheesier. I like to add a handful of cheddar and a couple ounces of cream cheese if I have it. You may need to keep adding small amounts of milk as it cooks, but once the cheese is all melted, that’s it!

Enjoy!

Ingredients:
12 ounces dried cavatappi or other small hollow, ridged pasta
1 1/2 teaspoons melted butter
4 tablespoons finely diced yellow onion
1 1/4 cups heavy cream
Kosher salt
6 ounces sharp cheddar cheese, shredded (about 2 cups)
4 ounces cream cheese, cut into small cubes
3 ounces parmesan cheese, grated (about 2/3 cup)
1 ounce Swiss cheese, grated (about 6 tablespoons)
1/2 tablespoon chile paste, such as sambal oelek
5 ounces sharp cheddar cheese, coarsely shredded (about 1 2/3 cups)
8 tablespoons Panko bread crumbs (about 1/2 cup)

Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 400°F.
2. Cook the pasta according to the package directions until al dente. Drain but leave
a little water on the pasta to keep it moist. Reserve another 1/2 cup of pasta water
to thin the sauce. Return to the cooking pot and cover to keep warm.
3. In a medium saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat and sauté the onions for
about 1 minute or until tender. Add the cream and bring to a simmer. Stir in the
cheddar, cream, parmesan and Swiss cheeses and cook, stirring, until the cheeses
melt and are fully incorporated into the cream. Let the sauce reach a simmer and
stir in the chile paste. You will have about 2 1/2 cups of sauce.
4. Remove from the heat and using an immersion blender or hand-held electric
mixer, beat for about 45 seconds until the cheeses and onions are completely
blended. The sauce will be thick; thin it with the reserved 1/2 cup of pasta water
and mix well. Season to taste with salt.
5. Ladle the sauce over the pasta and mix well with a rubber spatula. Transfer to a
deep, 2-quart baking dish and spread the pasta and cheese evenly. Sprinkle the
coarsely shredded cheese over the casserole and sprinkle with bread crumbs. Bake
for 20 to 25 minutes or until hot and bubbling around the edges. Serve
immediately.

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