NOTE: If you had a childhood like mine, you grew up eating the popular boxed and powdered macaroni and cheese, and you loved it. So now it’s time to graduate to this spectacularly rocking variation on the classic! And just to up the ante: it is loaded with bacon. (No whining vegetarians: If you want to go totally vegan on this, just substitute the bacon bits and bacon fat, follow my vegetarian directions below, and it is still excellent!)
Ingredients:
– 1/4 cup Flour
– 2 cups of Milk
– 4 cups of shredded Cheese (Cheddar, Swiss, or any combination)
– 8 ounces of Pasta (Ziti, Penne, Elbows, Farfalle, or Small Shells all work)
– 1/4 teaspoon Salt
– 1/4 teaspoon Ground Black Pepper
– 1/4 teaspoon Paprika
– 6 slices of Bacon
– 1 slice of Bread (white, brown, or whole wheat—any will do)
– 1/2 cup Panko Breadcrumbs
– 2 tablespoons Olive Oil
Directions:
Brown the six slices of bacon in a frying pan. When they are brown and crispy, remove them from the bacon fat, and set them aside. Leave the bacon fat in the frying pan. Momentarily remove the frying pan from the heat.
Take the slice of bread, and rip it apart into small pieces to make slightly large breadcrumbs. Place the bread scraps directly into the frying pan, in the bacon grease, and return the frying pan to the heat. With a spatula, move the bread scraps through the bacon grease, frying the bread into crispy bacon-flavored little croutons. Remove these bacon-flavored croutons from the frying pan, and put them aside on a plate or in a small bowl.
[NOTE TO VEGETARIANS: With regard to the above bacon-filled direction, you can easily replace it with turkey bacon, or even tofu bacon. If you do that, there will be no grease per se for the croutons, so fry the turkey or tofu bacon in olive oil, and use that left over hickory-flavored oil for the croutons.]
Boil water and prepare the half-pound of pasta. Cook until el dente. Remove the pot of pasta from the stove, and drain. Return pasta to the pan it just boiled in, pour two tablespoons of olive oil on the pasta, stir it, and spread it into a medium sized baking pan. Sprinkle it evenly with the bacon bits, (or turkey bacon, or tofu bacon) and set aside.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
Combine the flour and milk in a large saucepan and whisk together. Put the saucepan on the stove over medium to medium-high heat, and bring it to a boil, stirring constantly with a spoon or a wire whisk. As it starts to boil, suddenly you will feel it thicken up. Remove the pan from the heat and add the four cups of cheese, and add the salt, pepper, and paprika. Stir the shredded cheese and spices into the hot flour and milk concoction, and the cheese should melt into a cheesy sauce. If it isn’t melting smoothly, return it to the heat for a minute or two, stirring constantly.
NOTE: In this recipe, when I say, “stirring constantly,” I mean exactly that. If either of the above mixtures are left alone on the heat for even a minute, it will burn to the bottom of the pan and taste like hell! So: don’t stop stirring!
When the cheese, milk and flour mixture is consistent and the cheese is melted, evenly pour it into the baking dish, coating the pasta and bacon. Lightly stir it all together to coat each piece of the pasta, and to move the bacon around as well.
Sprinkle the cheesy pasta evenly with the bacon-flavored croutons. Sprinkle this creation evenly with half a cup of Panko breadcrumbs for extra “crunch.”
Place the baking dish into the preheated 350-degree oven, and bake for 30 minutes.
When the top is nice and brown and the cheese is actively bubbling in the baking pan, remove this phenomenal Panko Encrusted Bacon Macaroni & Cheese from the oven. Allow it to sit for two minutes to solidify. Serve immediately, and let the party begin! This goes great with a glass of chilled Chardonnay.
– 1/4 cup Flour
– 2 cups of Milk
– 4 cups of shredded Cheese (Cheddar, Swiss, or any combination)
– 8 ounces of Pasta (Ziti, Penne, Elbows, Farfalle, or Small Shells all work)
– 1/4 teaspoon Salt
– 1/4 teaspoon Ground Black Pepper
– 1/4 teaspoon Paprika
– 6 slices of Bacon
– 1 slice of Bread (white, brown, or whole wheat—any will do)
– 1/2 cup Panko Breadcrumbs
– 2 tablespoons Olive Oil
Directions:
Brown the six slices of bacon in a frying pan. When they are brown and crispy, remove them from the bacon fat, and set them aside. Leave the bacon fat in the frying pan. Momentarily remove the frying pan from the heat.
Take the slice of bread, and rip it apart into small pieces to make slightly large breadcrumbs. Place the bread scraps directly into the frying pan, in the bacon grease, and return the frying pan to the heat. With a spatula, move the bread scraps through the bacon grease, frying the bread into crispy bacon-flavored little croutons. Remove these bacon-flavored croutons from the frying pan, and put them aside on a plate or in a small bowl.
[NOTE TO VEGETARIANS: With regard to the above bacon-filled direction, you can easily replace it with turkey bacon, or even tofu bacon. If you do that, there will be no grease per se for the croutons, so fry the turkey or tofu bacon in olive oil, and use that left over hickory-flavored oil for the croutons.]
Boil water and prepare the half-pound of pasta. Cook until el dente. Remove the pot of pasta from the stove, and drain. Return pasta to the pan it just boiled in, pour two tablespoons of olive oil on the pasta, stir it, and spread it into a medium sized baking pan. Sprinkle it evenly with the bacon bits, (or turkey bacon, or tofu bacon) and set aside.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
Combine the flour and milk in a large saucepan and whisk together. Put the saucepan on the stove over medium to medium-high heat, and bring it to a boil, stirring constantly with a spoon or a wire whisk. As it starts to boil, suddenly you will feel it thicken up. Remove the pan from the heat and add the four cups of cheese, and add the salt, pepper, and paprika. Stir the shredded cheese and spices into the hot flour and milk concoction, and the cheese should melt into a cheesy sauce. If it isn’t melting smoothly, return it to the heat for a minute or two, stirring constantly.
NOTE: In this recipe, when I say, “stirring constantly,” I mean exactly that. If either of the above mixtures are left alone on the heat for even a minute, it will burn to the bottom of the pan and taste like hell! So: don’t stop stirring!
When the cheese, milk and flour mixture is consistent and the cheese is melted, evenly pour it into the baking dish, coating the pasta and bacon. Lightly stir it all together to coat each piece of the pasta, and to move the bacon around as well.
Sprinkle the cheesy pasta evenly with the bacon-flavored croutons. Sprinkle this creation evenly with half a cup of Panko breadcrumbs for extra “crunch.”
Place the baking dish into the preheated 350-degree oven, and bake for 30 minutes.
When the top is nice and brown and the cheese is actively bubbling in the baking pan, remove this phenomenal Panko Encrusted Bacon Macaroni & Cheese from the oven. Allow it to sit for two minutes to solidify. Serve immediately, and let the party begin! This goes great with a glass of chilled Chardonnay.