Tri-Color Macaroni with a White Cheddar Sauce

Last week we had a lazy day and we were watching the Food Network all day.  We caught an episode of the Barefoot Contessa and she made a grown up macaroni and cheese.  Mikey was enthralled with this so we decided to try our hand at it.  Sure, we could have looked up her recipe and replicated it but that would be too easy, so we just borrowed a couple of her ideas and turned the recipe into our own.  Mikey cooked most of the dish, but I swooped in at the end and put the finishing touches on.  If you’d like to see the Barefoot Contessa recipe click here.  As to the cost of this dish it was $0.  We had all of the ingredients lying around the house so we didn’t spend a penny making this.  We thought about it and decided it would be under $20 if you went to the store and bought everything.

Ingredients:

• 3 strips of bacon
• 1 cup of sharp white cheddar grated
• 2 cups milk
• 2 tbs butter
• 2 tbs flour
• 1/2 cup bread crumbs
• 2 tps dried or fresh basil
• tri-colored rotini

Directions: Either fry the bacon on the stovetop or throw it in the oven and get it nice and crispy.  Place on paper towels to drain the fat.  Start boiling your pasta water with some salt in it and once that is boiling add the pasta.  We chose the tri-colored pasta because it is pretty as well as tasty.  While you are waiting for your water to boil heat up the milk in a saucepan but do not let it come to a boil.  Make a roux out of your butter and flour.  Basically, a roux is a thickener for sauces.  You melt the butter then stir in the flour until it gets brown.  Add the cheese to the milk and stir til melted and then add the roux stirring all the time.  You should taste your sauce at this point and if it is not cheesy enough for you add more cheese to it. Once your pasta is done drain it and put it into a casserole dish.  Crumble the bacon and mix that into the pasta.  Pour your cheese sauce over top and stir until everything is covered in delicious cheesy goodness.  Take a couple slices of sandwich bread and put them in a food processor until they turn into coarse breadcrumbs then mix in the basil.  Put this on top of the pasta and pop the whole thing into a 400 degree oven for about a half hour or until the mac and cheese is golden brown and bubbly.  Enjoy!

As an after thought while eating this we decided that this dish would be excellent with some artichokes added in.  So, if you have any around the house add this in when you put the sauce on the pasta.

Michelle’s Thoughts: While I’m not really big into macaroni and cheese I thought it was pretty good.  Definitely way better than Kraft Dinner.

Mikey’s Thoughts:  BACON! and  CHEDDAR!  Two words that are usually used when describing the best cheeseburger, so why not put it in a pasta form?  I thought this dish couldnt have been better.  The cheese sauce was awesome and the bacon added a crunch that was fantastic.  Next time I make this I am definitely going to throw in some artichoke hearts.

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