Bacon Mac 'n' Cheese
Makes: 3 qt
Required Dishes:
- 9x13 pan
- Medium pot
- Large skillet
Required Ingredients:
- 1 lb of uncooked elbow macaroni
- 1 lb of bacon (or a bit less)
- 6 tbsp of bacon fat or butter
- 4 tbsp flour
- 2 cups milk
- 2 cups half and half
- 1 tsp salt (optional)
- ½ tsp black pepper (optional)
- ½ tsp mustard (optional)
- 1 lb of Cheddar or Gruyère cheese
- 1 tsp paprika
- ¼ tbsp fresh thyme (optional)
Steps:
- Boil the elbow macaroni in a pot of salted water until al dente, about 8 minutes or as the package directs. Drain and set aside.
- In a skillet, cook the bacon over medium heat until quite crispy. Remove the bacon and crumble it into pieces. (You can obviously bake it instead, which would be much easier and faster, just harder to collect the fat then.)
- Drain most of the bacon fat, leaving about 6 tablespoons in the skillet. If you have less than that, add the equivalent amount of butter.
- Add the flour to the skillet and whisk it into the bacon fat/butter to form a roux.
- Cook the roux for about 2 minutes over low heat, stirring constantly.
- Microwave the milk and half and half for about 2 minutes until warm.
- Gradually whisk in the milk and half and half.
- Add the salt, pepper, mustard, and thyme to the mixture.
- Increase the heat to medium and cook at a light simmer until the sauce thickens a little bit, about 5-7 minutes.
- Shred almost all the cheese into to the sauce, stirring until melted and smooth. Reserve roughly a fifth of the cheese.
- Add the cooked macaroni and bacon to the sauce and stir to combine if your pan is large enough. Else, add half of each to the baking pan, stir each half to combine, then add the rest to the baking dish.
- Top with the reserved cheese and sprinkle with paprika.
- Bake in a preheated oven at 350° for about 25 minutes, or until the top is golden.