Just googling it seems to depend on if you're talking about the pasta itself or with cheese.
For clarification here in the UK we do not call it "d mac 'n' cheese", just call it macaronie either way.
It seems it is derived from Italy but in the modern sense came from England.
Pasta and cheese casseroles were recorded in the 14th century in the Italian cookbook, Liber de Coquina, which featured a dish of Parmesan and pasta. A cheese and pasta casserole known as makerouns was recorded in the 14th-century medieval English cookbook, the Forme of Cury.[6] It was made with fresh, hand-cut pasta which was sandwiched between a mixture of melted butter and cheese. The recipe given (in Middle English) was:
Take and make a thynne foyle of dowh. and kerve it on pieces, and cast hem on boiling water & seeþ it well. take cheese and grate it and butter cast bynethen and above as losyns. and serue forth.
This is the above recipe in modern English:
Make a thin foil [sheet] of dough and carve [cut] it in pieces. Cast [place] them in boiling water and seethe [boil] them well. take cheese and grate it and add it and cast [place] butter beneath and above as with losyns [a dish similar to lasagne], and serve forth [serve].[7]
The first modern recipe for macaroni and cheese was included in Elizabeth Raffald's 1769 book, The Experienced English Housekeeper. Raffald's recipe is for a Béchamel sauce with cheddar cheese—a Mornay sauce in French cooking—which is mixed with macaroni, sprinkled with Parmesan, and baked until bubbly and golden.[8]
To dress Macaroni with Permasent [Parmasan] Cheese. Boil four Ounces of Macaroni ’till it be quite tender, and lay it on a Sieve to drain, then put it in a Tolling Pan, with about a Gill of good Cream, a Lump of Butter rolled in Flour, boil it five Minutes, pour it on a Plate, lay all over it Permasent Cheese toasted; send it to the Table on a Water Plate, for it soon goes cold.
Another recipe from 1784 stated that the small tubes of macaroni must be boiled, then drained in a sifter before being moved to a frying pan. Heavy cream is then added to the macaroni along with a "knob of butter" rolled in flour, and it must be cooked for five minutes before being transferred to a dish and topped with toasted Parmesan and pepper.[9] The famous British Victorian cookbook Mrs. Beeton's Book of Household Management included two instances of "Macaroni, as usually served with the Cheese Course". One of them states:
The macaroni, (which should be "tender but perfectly firm, no part being allowed to melt, and the form entirely preserved" – lest one be tempted to cook it for so long it actually disintegrated) is then topped with more cheese, pepper, and breadcrumbs, before receiving a final dose of melted butter for good measure and being placed before a "bright fire" to brown the crumbs, or grilled with a salamander broiler.[10]
In the United Kingdom, during the 2010s, it has seen a surge in popularity, becoming widespread as a meal and as a side order in both fast food and upmarket restaurants
Regardless, do associate it with Italy, and it is a main-stay course from Italian food places.
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