Spicy Baked Macaroni and Cheese

Submitted by esolson

"I have been looking for a good baked mac and cheese recipe forever, and I finally found one that was okay from Alton Brown on the Food Network... I've changed it so much it's barely the same recipe. Here it is!"

 

• Ready In: 55mins
• Ingredients: 6
• Serves: 6-8

ingredients

• 2 cups uncooked elbow macaroni
• 6 slices bacon, coarsely chopped
• 3 tablespoons butter (if not using bacon fat)
• 3 tablespoons flour
• 1 tablespoon mustard powder
• 3 cups milk

directions

1. Preheat oven to 350º F. Fry the bacon until just undercooked and (optionally) reserve 3 T of the fat. Let drain on a paper towel.
2. In a large pot of boiling, salted water cook the pasta al dente.
3. While the pasta is cooking, in a separate pot, melt the butter or reheat the bacon fat. Whisk in the flour and mustard and keep it moving for about five minutes—ensuring it is free of lumps. Stir in the milk, onion, garlic, bay leaf and cayenne. Simmer for ten minutes (onions should soften) and remove the bay leaf.
4. Temper in the egg (by adding small amounts of hot ingredients to a whisked egg to prevent it from scrambling itself). Stir in ¾ cup of cheddar cheese and all the gouda. Season with salt and liberally with pepper. Fold in the macaroni and bacon and put into a 2-quart casserole dish. Top with the remaining cheese.
5. Melt the butter in a sauté pan and add the paprika and garlic powder, ensure the spices are mixed evenly throughout the butter. Toss the breadcrumbs in the butter mixture to coat. Remove from heat and mix in the parmesan and herbs. Top the macaroni mixture with bread crumbs.
6. Bake for 30 minutes, remove from oven and let rest 5 minutes before serving.