Grown-up Baked Macaroni and Cheese

Here is the good thing about this recipe...it is the BEST mac'n'cheese I have ever had in my entire life.

Here is the bad thing about this recipe...it only makes two servings!

In other words be prepared to double it, NO triple it!

I guess when you combine three different types of cheese, bacon, and pasta you really can't go wrong! I savored every bite of this meal and when it was over, I was sad. I never thought I could get sad about mac'n'cheese, kind of weird.

Look its the Italian flag in cheese!

A bunch of crumbled turkey bacon. Yes, this recipe has bacon. Did you see the title "Grown-up..." that is really code for "plus bacon". When doesn't bacon make things better!

Adorable lil pinwheel pasta, which I used because I thought they were cuter than macaroni.

This was the first time I used actual bread for the bread crumbs portion of the recipe. I always used the jar of bread crumbs, but the pantry was barren of bread crumbs. So I followed the recipe and placed two crust-less slices of bread in my mini food processor and pulsed till they were little bitty crumbs. This created a light crumbly crust on top of the mac'n'cheese, it was not what I expected in a good way. I did just read about another way to make bread crumbs from TheComfortofCooking that I think I'll be trying this weekend, thanks Georgia!

Grown-up Baked Macaroni and Cheese

6 slices thick bacon
2 cups macaroni, or your favorite pasta
1 and 1/2 cups whole milk
2 tbsp unsalted butter
2 tbsp all-purpose flour
4 ounces gruyere cheese, grated
3 ounces cheddar cheese, grated
2 ounces gorgonzola cheese, crumbled
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp salt
pinch of nutmeg
2 slices of bread, crust removed
2 tbsp fresh basil leaves, finely chopped

Cook bacon on skillet or bake in oven at 400 degrees for 15 to 20 minutes. Pat cooked bacon to reduce grease and crumble, set aside.

Bring a medium pot of water to boil and cook pasta according to directions on package, add a sprinkle of extra-virgin olive oil to reduce sticking of pasta. Drain well and set aside.

Place two pieces of crustless bread into food processor and pulse till you have coarse crumbs. Add in chopped basil and mix till combined, set aside.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees, if not already. In a small saucepan, heat milk until warm, being careful not to let it boil. Meanwhile, in a large saucepan melt butter and add flour. While whisking butter/flour mixture, cook over low heat for 2 minutes. Add in warm milk and continue to whisk. Cook for an additional 2 minutes or until sauce is smooth and thickened. Remove saucepan from heat and add in Gruyere, Cheddar, and Gorgonzola Cheeses and salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Stir till combined. Add in cooked pasta and crumbled bacon and stir till combined. Pour mixture into 2 medium gratin dishes (I used 2 Corningware baking dishes). Top macaroni and cheese dishes with bread crumb and basil mixture. Bake for 35 minutes or until the sauce is bubbly and bread crumbs are browned. Remove and serve warm.

This recipe was adapted from FoodNetwork, its one of those recipes that got covered in kitchen mess and rapid note taking. For some reason a piece of paper is just the perfect spoon rest, not that nice silver one we got for our wedding, that one requires more dishwashing!

This weekend I am going to tackle something I have been a little nervous about making, I am so excited to share with you all! Hope everyone has a super weekend!