Bacon Cheddar Macaroni Cheese Recipe 465 Food

KILLER MAC AND CHEESE WITH BACON

Steps:

• Drizzle a bit of olive oil in a large saucepan. Add the bacon and set the pan over medium heat; cook, stirring occasionally, until brown and crisp, 8 to 10 minutes. Remove from the pan and drain on paper towels. Do not discard the bacon fat: Reserve that deliciousness!
• Add the butter and onion to the pan with the bacon fat; season with salt and cook until the onion is soft and aromatic, 4 to 6 minutes. Add the flour and cook, stirring frequently, until the mixture looks like wet sand, about 3 minutes.
• Slowly whisk in the milk, mustard and a few shakes of Tabasco. Season with salt and bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to low. Simmer until the mixture is slightly thicker than heavy cream, 6 to 8 more minutes.
• Meanwhile, bring a large pot of well-salted water to a boil. Add the pasta and cook 1 minute less than the instructions on the package suggest. Taste it: It should be toothsome, with just a little nugget of hard pasta still in the center-this is al dente. Drain the pasta.
• Add the Cheddar, fontina and Parmesan to the milk mixture and whisk to combine. Taste and adjust the seasoning, if needed, adding a little more milk if the mixture seems too thick. Stir in the cooked bacon and pasta. The mixture should be very creamy and flavorful. Serve immediately. (If making ahead, transfer to a baking dish or ramekins, then reheat in a 375 degree oven.)

MAC 'N CHEESE WITH BACON AND CHEESE

Steps:

• Bring a pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the macaroni and cook for 8 to 9 minutes, until al dente. Drain.
• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
• In a small saucepan heat the milk with the thyme sprigs and 2 garlic cloves. Melt the butter in a large, deep skillet over medium-high heat. Whisk in the flour and cook for about 1 minute, stirring constantly, to keep lumps from forming. Strain the solids out of the milk and whisk it into the butter and flour mixture. Continue to whisk vigorously, and cook until the mixture is nice and smooth. Stir in the 4 cups of the cheese and continue to cook and stir to melt the cheese. Season with salt and pepper. Add the cooked macaroni and the parsley and fold that all in to coat the macaroni with the cheese mixture. Scrape into a 3-quart baking dish and sprinkle with the remaining 1 1/2 cups cheese. Bake for 30 minutes, or until hot and bubbly.
• While that bakes, heat a saute pan. Add the bacon, render the fat and cook until crispy. Add onion, garlic and thyme leaves and cook for about 5 minutes to soften the onion. Season with salt and pepper.
• To serve, scatter the bacon mixture over the mac and cheese. Use a big spoon to scoop out servings, making sure you get some of the smoking bacon mixture on each spoonful.

CHEDDAR-BACON MAC AND CHEESE

Steps:

• Heat oven to 350 degrees F.
• Cook macaroni as directed on package. Meanwhile, melt butter in large saucepan on low heat. Stir in flour; cook 2 min. or until bubbly. Gradually stir in milk; cook on medium heat until mixture comes to boil, stirring constantly. Simmer on low heat 3 to 5 min. or until thickened. Add 1 1/2 cups cheese; cook and stir 5 min. or until melted.
• Drain macaroni. Add to sauce with bacon; mix lightly. Spoon into 1 1/2 quart casserole; top with remaining cheese.
• Bake 20 min. or until heated through.

MACARONI AND CHEDDAR CHEESE

Steps:

• Heat a medium, deep skillet over medium heat. Add oil and butter. When butter melts into the oil, add flour and combine. Gently cook, whisking flour and butter together, until smooth and flour has had a chance to cook, about 3 minutes. Slowly add milk while continuing to whisk. Gently bring milk to a bubble while stirring frequently. Allow the milk to thicken a bit, then stir in 2 cups of shredded Cheddar cheese a handful at a time. Season sauce with nutmeg and cayenne. Taste and add a little salt, if you like. Add cooked pasta to sauce and coat completely by turning over and over in the cheese sauce. Transfer to a flameproof baking dish and top with remaining cheese. Place baking dish under a hot broiler and brown the Cheddar cheese on top.

CLASSIC MACARONI AND CHEESE WITH SMOKED BACON, AGED CHEDDAR AND FRESH SAGE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Coat 2 baking dishes with the butter.
• Place chopped bacon on a baking sheet and cook in oven until half cooked, about 10 minutes. Drain off excess grease, reserve bacon.
• In a large pot of boiling, salted water, cook elbow macaroni until al dente, about 8 to 10 minutes. Strain, toss lightly in olive oil, reserve.
• In a saucepan, on medium-high heat, saute bacon with a light amount of olive oil. Add the onion and cook until translucent then add the garlic. Dust with flour, whisk in milk, cream, nutmeg, and mustard powder. Bring to simmer stirring constantly for several minutes. Whisk in 4 cups of Cheddar and half a cup of Parmesan. Stir until all the cheese is melted. Adjust the seasoning with salt, pepper and lemon juice. Fold in the pasta, sage and parsley.
• Place into buttered baking dishes. Top with remaining cheeses and place dishes on baking tray and place in the oven. Bake until golden brown, about 20 to 25 minutes. Let cool about 5 minutes, garnish with parsley and sage leaves and serve!

MACARONI CHEESE WITH BACON & PINE NUTS

Steps:

• Heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. Put the pine nuts in a dry frying pan, gently toast for 2-3 mins, then tip onto a plate. In the same pan, add the pancetta or bacon and cook for a few mins until crisp.
• Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil and cook the pasta following pack instructions until al dente. Drain, reserving a ladleful of the pasta cooking water for later.
• Meanwhile, put the double cream, crème fraîche and half the cheese in a saucepan, stir together and gently warm through until the cheese has melted. Take off the heat, stir in the mustard and some seasoning to taste.
• Tip the drained pasta into a large baking dish and stir in the cheese sauce, adding some of the pasta cooking water if it looks a little dry. Sprinkle the toasted pine nuts and cooked pancetta over the top, then scatter over the remaining cheese. Bake for 20 mins until the top is golden and bubbling, then serve with a salad, if you like.

BAKED MACARONI AND CHEESE WITH BACON

Steps:

• Cook macaroni according to box directions and set aside.
• In a medium saucepan melt butter over low heat. Add flour and stir constantly until smooth.
• Turn heat to medium and add milk stirring constantly until thick. (About 10 minutes).
• Add hot sauce. Stir until mixed in evenly.
• Add pasta, bacon and cheese. Mix until cheese melts, bacon is mixed in, and pasta is evenly coated.
• Pour macaroni and cheese into a 9x13 baking dish and top according to taste.
• Bake in preheated oven at 350 degrees for about 25-30 minutes. (If using parmesan cheese and breadcrumbs take it out when the top looks lightly browned. If using cheddar cheese topping take out when top becomes darkened, but not burnt.).