Barefoot Bloggers - Grown Up Mac and Cheese

Thursday, September 11, 2008, by Leigh Anne

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Our first Barefoot Blogger recipe for the month of September, Grown Up Mac and Cheese was selected by Heather of Randomosity and the Girl.

I am not a fan of Macaroni and Cheese. My kids have always loved the orange stuff in the box - yuck! I do remember eating it as a kid but I believe it was smothered in ketchup. Doesn’t just about anything taste good smothered in ketchup!?

Since Mac and Cheese is not on the Zone Diet my husband wasn’t going to be partaking of this particular dish so with only one child left at home - that left only Tessa to enjoy it. I filled a small little ramekin with enough for her and decided to share the rest with someone else.

There is a young family at church that I visit on a monthly basis that could use a little help and love right now so I filled a disposable pan with Grown Up Mac and Cheese, covered it with foil and dropped it off as a surprise. The husband was home going through the refrigerator at the time looking for something to fix for dinner so my timing was perfect. I hope they enjoy it.

Even though I didn’t eat any I loved the idea of mixing the breadcrumbs with basil - a real grown up touch! I also loved the combination of grown up cheeses - Gruyere, extra sharp Cheddar and Blue Cheese. The addition of bacon made in more grown up too -and everything tastes better with bacon! I promise I’ll have a bite of Tessa’s when she enjoys it for dinner tomorrow night.

My picture is a shot of the uncooked version. I took it to the family uncooked so if they wanted to freeze it for another night they could but I don’t think it made it that far!

Grown Up Mac and Cheese

4 oz. thick sliced bacon

vegetable oil

Kosher salt

2 cups elbow macaroni or cavatappi

1 1/2 cups milk

2 Tbsp. unsalted butter

2 Tbsp. all purpose flour

4 oz. Gruyere cheese, grated

3 oz. extra sharp Cheddar, grated

2 oz. blue cheese, such as Roquefort, crumbled

1/4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper

pinch nutmeg

2 slices white sandwich bread, crusts removed

2 Tbsp. freshly chopped basil leaves

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Place a baking rack on a cookie sheet and arrange the bacon in 1 layer on the baking rack. Bake for 15-20 minutes, until the bacon is crisp. Remove the pan carefully from the oven - there will be hot grease in the pan! Transfer the bacon to a plate lined with paper towels and crumble when it is cool enough to handle.

Drizzle oil into a large pot of boiling salted water. Add the macaroni and cook according to the directions on the package, 6-8 minutes. Drain well.

Meanwhile, heat the milk in a small saucepan, but don’t boil it. Melt the butter in a medium pot and add the flour. Cook over low heat for 2 minutes, stirring with a whisk. While whisking, add the hot milk and cook for a minute or 2 more, until thickened and smooth. Off the heat, add the cheeses, 1 tsp. salt, pepper and nutmeg. Add the cooked macaroni and crumbled bacon and stir well. Pour into pan.

Place the bread slices in a food processor fitted with a steel blade (I used my blender) and pulse until you have coarse crumbs. Add the basil and pulse to combine. Sprinkle the bread crumb mixture over the top of the pasta. Bake for 35-40 minutes, or until the sauce is bubbly and the macaroni is browned on the top.

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