The Ultimate Mac and Cheese

The Ultimate Mac and Cheese – smothered in 4 kinds of cheeses and bacon.

Mac and Cheese truly is the ultimate comfort food. I have to admit that since I wasn’t born here, I didn’t really grow up with this kind of mac and cheese. We do have our own mac and cheese and sometimes I honestly prefer that one. The Romanian version that I grew up with is macaroni with crumbled feta cheese, and if that’s not weird enough for you, sometimes we put sugar over it, mix everything together and bake it for a few minutes if you want to get a nice crust on top. The addition of sugar is mostly for kids, but I never grew out of it, even to this day I add sugar to my mac and cheese. It may sound weird to you, but trust me when I say, it’s delicious and that is my comfort food.

However, I’ve lived here now for almost 30 years and as you can imagine I adapted, and actually I’m more Canadian than I am Romanian, having lived most of my life here. Mac and cheese was a very common meal for me especially when I was in university or lived on my own. Not the homemade kind, but the Kraft kind. 🙂 It was cheap and quick. I’ve since learned to make my own mac and cheese, no more mac and cheese out of the box. 🙂

There are many versions of mac and cheese. You can add so many different types of cheeses to it. I think that no matter how you make it, you can’t really screw it up. I have to tell you this recipe is not figure friendly, so if you don’t want to hear about fat and butter and bacon, you might want to leave now and check out my Healthy Eating section. But if you’re curious enough and brave then stick around to find out this wonderful recipe which I found out on www.thepioneerwoman.com which I modified a bit and cut most of the ingredients in half.

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The Ultimate Mac and Cheese

3 from 1 vote

Prep: 20 mins

Cook: 40 mins

Total: 40 mins

Author: Joanna Cismaru

Serves: 6

Print Pin Rate

The Ultimate Mac and Cheese – smothered in 4 kinds of cheeses and bacon.

Ingredients

• 2 cups elbow macaroni
• 4 tbsp butter
• 1 onion sliced thin
• 6 slices bacon cooked and chopped in very small pieces
• 2 tbsp all-purpose flour
• 1 1/4 cup skim milk
• 1 egg yolk beaten
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1/4 cup gruyere cheese grated
• 1/4 cup mozzarella cheese shredded
• 1/4 cup parmigiano reggiano cheese grated
• 2 oz goat cheese

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 350 F degrees.
• Cook macaroni according to the package instructions, for half the time.Drain and set aside.
• In a skillet fry the bacon and keep half of the oil from it.
• Saute onions over medium-low heat for 10 to 12 minutes in the oil left over from the bacon, or until golden brown. Set aside.
• In a pot, melt 2 tablespoons butter. Sprinkle in flour and whisk to combine. Cook, stirring constantly, over medium heat for 1 minute. Pour in milk, then cook for 3 to 5 minutes or until thick. Reduce heat to low. Add salt & pepper to taste.
• Beat the egg yolk and drizzle 1/4 cup hot mixture into the beaten yolk, stirring constantly. Stir to combine. Pour egg mixture into sauce and cook for another minute.
• Add cheeses and stir until melted. Add 3/4 of the onions and bacon and stir. Taste for seasonings and add more salt if needed. Add cooked macaroni and stir to coat.
• Pour into a baking dish, top with remaining onion and bacon and bake for 25 minutes or until sizzling and hot.

Nutrition Information:

Calories: 454kcal (23%)Carbohydrates: 42g (14%)Protein: 18g (36%)Fat: 24g (37%)Saturated Fat: 12g (75%)Cholesterol: 85mg (28%)Sodium: 322mg (14%)Potassium: 254mg (7%)Fiber: 2g (8%)Sugar: 5g (6%)Vitamin A: 598IU (12%)Vitamin C: 1mg (1%)Calcium: 224mg (22%)Iron: 1mg (6%)

Course:Dinner, Main Course

Cuisine:American

Keyword:baked macaroni and cheese, mac and cheese

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