Macaroni Cheese with a Bacon Crumb
Creamy pasta with a crispy bacon crumb topping. Quick and easy comfort food.The 25 minute prep time assumes that you prepare the sauce and topping while the macaroni is boiling on the stovetop. Butter is used three times - in the pasta, the topping and the cheese sauce. No one said this was diet food 😉
Servings: 4 people (as a main course)
Equipment
- Baking dish, approximately 27cm round or 20cm square. The size is not critical, a few centimetres more or less will be fine. All the components are already cooked. Changing the size will affect how deep the pasta layer is and how much of the pasta has a crispy top. If you use a cast iron pan, you can use this to render the bacon too (and save on washing up).
Ingredients
Macaroni
- 240 g macaroni (or any short-cut pasta shape)
- 15 g unsalted butter (a tablespoon)
Crunchy Topping
- 60 g streaky bacon (about 2 rashers, depending on thickness)
- big handful parsley leaves (about 15g)
- zest of one lemon
- 30 g unsalted butter (2 tablespoons)
- 60 g Panko breadcrumbs
Cheese Sauce
- 160 g cheese (note)
- 40 g unsalted butter
- 40 g plain flour
- 500 ml milk
- ½ teaspoon salt
- â…› teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- Preheat Oven – to 180°C.
- Boil Pasta – bring a large pot of salted water to the boil. Add the macaroni and bring the water back to the boil. Cook for the time suggested on the packet MINUS a couple of minutes, or until it is a little underdone. Drain, return pasta to the pot, add butter and toss until melted.240 g macaroni15 g unsalted butter
- Bacon – finely chop the bacon and add to a cold dry frying pan. Add a couple of tablespoons of cold water. Stir to combine and spread the bacon out into a thin layer. Cook (uncovered) over low heat until the water has gone and the fat is starting to render out of the bacon. Turn the heat to medium and cook the bacon, stirring often, until it is crisp and browned. Reduce the heat if it’s browning too fast (before the fat has rendered).60 g streaky bacon
- Topping – finely chop the parsley. Transfer to a bowl along with the bacon and any bacon fat left in the pan and the lemon zest. Melt the butter in short burst in the microwave and add this. Add the Panko and scrunch together with your hands. Set aside.big handful parsley leaveszest of one lemon30 g unsalted butter60 g Panko breadcrumbs
Make Sauce
- Grate Cheese – coarsely, using the largest holes of a box grater.160 g cheese
- Butter & Flour – in a small saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the flour and cook, whisking until combined and coloured.40 g unsalted butter40 g plain flour
- Milk – add the cold milk all at once and immediately combine with a hand whisk or silicone spatula. You shouldn't get lumps if you add cold milk quickly in this way. Using a flexible spatula can help get into the 'corners' of the pan and keep the sauce from catching at the bottom.500 ml milk
- Thicken Sauce – Cook, keeping the mixture on the move, for around 5 minutes, until thickened and starting to bubble. The sauce should coat the spatula and be thick enough that you can draw a line with your finger that holds its shape. When this happens, take the sauce off the heat. Add the grated cheese, salt and pepper. The cheese doesn't have to melt all the way.½ teaspoon salt⅛ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Assemble
- Combine – pour the sauce over the pasta and mix through well.
- Baking Dish - transfer to the baking dish. Sprinkle with the breadcrumb topping.
- Bake – uncovered 20 minutes, or until the top is light golden. Rotate the dish halfway through the baking time for more even browning.
Notes
Cheese – any combo of cheese that melts well will work. I tend to stick with tasty (also called mature or sharp) cheddar because I always have it. You can use gruyere, mozzarella, Colby, Monterey Jack, Provolone (as well as or instead). Always grate your own. Pre-grated/shredded cheese have anti-caking agents to keep the strands separate. These don’t melt and can give the sauce a texture that is a touch powdery.
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Make Ahead
This recipe is best made fresh, but you can make up to 3 days ahead if you know you’ll be short of time on the day: Skip the oven preheat step, complete the recipe up to (and including) the ‘Combine’ step in ‘Assemble’. Transfer the macaroni coated in white sauce to a bowl. Cover the surface with plastic wrap to prevent it from drying out. Allow it to cool a bit, then transfer it to the fridge. Keep the topping separate, in the fridge also. When ready to cook, proceed from the ‘Baking Dish’ instruction.
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Reheating Leftovers
This dish is better fresh. It will dry out a bit on storing. We don’t throw any leftovers though. It’s still delicious, but different 😉 It reheats fine in the microwave but will lose its crunchy top. We stir everything together. Each pasta piece gets coated with the lemony bacony crumb. I like it! If you do want to keep the crunchy top, make sure you store leftovers with the topping at the top (and not mixed in). Microwave until at least warm all the way through, then spray the top with oil and crisp under grill/broiler. You’ll need to make sure you use a dish that is both microwave AND oven-safe or transfer between the two.