Mac'n Cheese with Bacon

Tonight, Joanne has to work on some assignments for class. This semester she's taking two university courses in the evenings along with a full-time job, freelance reporting on the side, full-time husband and Tobie. She's my super-woman. Since she's been putting so much time into her studies, I figure I would treat her with her favorite comfort food: Macaroni and Cheese.

Unlike the blue box stuff we all grew up with, I like to make mine from scratch and experiment with different cheese every time. Tonight, I used 4 cheeses: Smoked Gouda, four year old white cheddar, parmesan and Gruyere. Macaroni is typically used in this dish because the shape makes it ideal for scooping and storing sauce. I try and go for something different and use Cavatappi, which is more of a corkscrew shape. Any curvy, tubular pasta will do: Pipe Rigate, Riccioli, Penne, Gigli.

Another great thing about this recipe is that you can use whatever cheese you like, except for orange cheddar. It makes the dish look like Kraft Dinner. I added a splash of white truffle oil to finish off this dish, but you can skip this.

Mac'n Cheese with Bacon
Recipe adapted from Tyler Florence

• 450g cavatappi (or elbow macaroni)
• 4 cups milk
• 3 or 4 sprigs thyme
• 5 cloves garlic, pressed
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 5 1/2 cups shredded sharp white Cheddar
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 1/4 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley
• 4 slices bacon, cut crosswise into thin strips
• 1 large onion, diced
• 2 garlic cloves, pressed
• 1 cup of diced, fresh mushrooms
• Leaves from 1/4 bunch fresh thyme
• panko breadcrumbs (optional)
  
• white truffle oil (optional)
  

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, and 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, diced mushroom pieces and thyme leaves and cook for about 5 minutes to soften the onion. Season with salt and pepper and sprinkle the top with panko bread crumbs.

5 minutes before the dish is ready, sprinkle the bacon/onion mixture over the top and continue cooking. Before serving, drizzle lightly with truffle oil if using. Use a big spoon to scoop out servings, making sure you get some of the smoking bacon mixture on each spoonful.