Courtesy Food Network HE'S THE MAN—Simi resident Rick Massa poses with Food Network personality Guy Fieri after winning first place on "Ultimate Recipe Showdown." The cop-turned-cook received the highest score for his signature dish, Cheese Lovers 5 Cheese Mac & Cheese. Kraft's blue box has nothing on Rick Massa.

The 58-year-old Simi resident proved that Sunday night when his five-cheese mac and cheese took the top prize in the comfort food round of Food Network's "Ultimate Recipe Showdown."

While the former Los Angeles Police Department officer's baked noodle dish requires slightly more work than the boxed pantry staple, the extra effort is well worth the reward— in this case, a cool $25,000 for Massa and his dish featured on T.G.I. Friday's menus nationwide.

"I was like, 'Oh my god, you've got to be kidding me,'" he said of the winning moment. "All for mac and cheese, something I didn't even make before I entered it."

Massa, who spent 25 years with LAPD's SWAT team before retiring in October 2006, battled three other home cooks on the season two premiere episode of the popular recipe competition hosted by Guy Fieri of "Guy's Big Bite" and "Diners, Drive-ins and Dives."

The copturnedcook received the highest score for his signature dish, Cheese Lovers 5 Cheese Mac & Cheese, but the other contestants—two of them also from the Los Angeles area— followed closely behind and threatened to steal the "ultimate" crown in the speed round.

Massa whipped up four heirloom tomato grilled cheese sandwiches and a chunky tomato bacon soup in just 30 minutes. And while the judges praised both creations, Missouri cook Emily Hobbs' pastrami panini had Massa nervous.

"I knew I had a good dish," Massa said. "Emily's pastrami sandwich looked really good though, and that was the one dish I was really worried about."

He also had to deal with some skepticism from the judges, who weren't sure Maytag blue cheese would work in his mac or that he could finish two dishes in the speed round.

Accustomed to high-pressure situations, Massa excelled. His combined total put him on top despite a slightly lower score in the speed round.

But winning the cook-off was more about the title than the money, which he split with his daughter, Heather, since she encouraged him to enter the contest.

For Massa's part, he was just ecstatic to win a popular, nationally televised cooking competition.

"To get selected out of 12,000 recipes and make the final four and now you're on the largest food network that's on television and you're competing in a big premiere show—that was the winner right there," he said.

Even though Massa's recipe hit the jackpot, literally, a few tweaks were made before the dish appeared on T.G.I. Friday's menu. Massa is aware of the changes and said he's pleased with the outcome.

"I've got all the confidence in the world in how they finished it," he said. "The only thing they did different is a different noodle, they crumbled some blue cheese on top and the grilled chicken."

Massa plans to visit the Simi location of Friday's this weekend to try out the recipe he created. But he doesn't plan to draw attention to his local celebrity.

"I'm not one to wave a flag and say look at me," he said. "I'm going to go to Friday's, sneak in and have a dinner and see what it looks like."

He acknowledged that his law enforcement background made for good TV, but he's glad he won on the merit of his cooking.

"It's kind of a just reward for me to be able to say I made it there and I won on the dish, not for the fact that I'm a cop or I was on the SWAT team or I was in a shootout," he said.

While his venture into the culinary world is a departure from his previous day job, Massa encouraged others to follow their dreams, no matter how farfetched.

"Anybody can do this," he said. "If you have a desire or a passion to do something, go do it and do it the best that you can."