Recipe: Bacon Mac n' Cheese

Bacon - it's like music for all my senses.  The sizzle, the smell, and best of all the taste!  Add it to a classic comfort food like mac n' cheese and miracles happen!  Just because you ate boxed cheesy pasta as a child, doesn't mean you need to continue to suffer with fluorescent powdered cheese as an adult!  We all deserve better!

If you don't eat bacon, you can omit it and use butter in place of the bacon fat. 

I find macaroni pasta very small. I like something with more substance, like a penne or cavatapi. Something that you can shovel into your mouth!  Here I happened to use a fresh pasta called strozzapreti, but as always use what you like or whatever's in your pantry.

I also prefer a combination of cheddar (for the traditional colour and flavour) and monteray jack (which melts wonderfully stringy). Feel free to experiment with the cheeses you use. You can make this as classic or gourmet as you like.  

Those of you that follow the blog, may have noticed I like spicy food (a lot!), and the spicy ingredients have been marked as optional below.

Serves 4
-4 strips of thick cut bacon
-500g of pasta (macaroni, penne, cavatappi, etc.)
-3 tbsp bacon fat (from cooking the bacon)
-3 tbsp all purpose flour
-2 tsp dijon mustard
-2 cloves of garlic
-5 sprigs of fresh thyme, stems removed
-2 1/2 cups of milk (2% or whole milk, don't go too lowfat)
-1 tsp salt
-1tsp black pepper
-1 1/2 cups of coarsely grated cheese
-1 tsp of chili powder*
-1 tsp of fresh jalapeno, finely minced*
-tomato slices*
-panko (Japanese bread crumbs)


*Optional

• Preheat oven to 375F.
• Bring a large pot of salted water to boil.
• Place a seperate medium pot over medium heat.
• Cut the bacon crosswise into about 1/2" pieces.
• Cook bacon until brown and crispy.  Remove bacon and drain on some paper towels and reserving 3 tbsp of bacon fat in the pot. 
• Add flour and whisk to combine with the fat.  This is called a "roux".
• Keep whisking continuously and slowly add the milk.  Don't be worried when it bubbles up slightly.  Just keep whisking.
• Add mustard, garlic, thyme, salt and pepper.  Stir to combine.  Congratulations! You have now made a "béchamel" sauce.
• Add cheese to the sauce and stir until melted.
• Add cooked bacon, chili powder and jalapeno, if desired.  Turn heat down to very low to keep warm until the pasta is cooked.
• Add pasta to water and cook for 1-2 mins less then the package instructions.
• Drain cooked pasta and combine with sauce.  Coat pasta evenly with sauce.
• Pour pasta into an oven-proof dish.  Place sliced tomatos on top (optional) and sprinkle evenly with panko.
• Bake for 15 mins. 
• Switch oven to broiler mode and broiler for 2 min until panko is golden brown.
• Serve immediately.