Mac & Cheese! With crispy bacon Bits. . .

Today I bring you my Mac & Cheese recipe with mature cheddar cheese!

Recipe

Ingredients 

1. Conchiglie pasta 
   
2. 200 ml of plain white flour
3. 200 ml butter
4. 1 L milk
5. 200g Mature Cheddar (or cheese of your choice)
6. 2 Bay leafs 
7. 4 black peppercorns 
8. 1 tsp nutmeg
9. salt to taste
10. 5 back bacon strips 

Method

1. Big pot of water on the stove and bring to the boil, then add 1 tbls of salt to the water and add your pasta.
2. Place a pan on a high heat, once hot place the bacon in the pan and cook intill nice and crispy, once done place on kitchen paper and allow to cool.
3. Use fat renderd from bacon later to add to the roux
4. Place another medium sized pot on the stove, then add the butter and allow to become slightly brown
5. Now add your flour to the butter and mix well, allow to cook for 2 minutes while stirring
6. Now gradually add in the  room temperature milk to the roux and stir constantly till all the milk has been added. 
7. Turn the heat down to medium and add your nutmeg, bay leaf peppercorns and salt to taste
8. Allow to simmer for 10 minutes checking every few minutes that its not catching on the bottom
9. Now check on your pasta, remember you want it al dente so don't over cook the pasta 
10. If your pastas ready place it in the colander and get back to your sauce
11. Once sauce has simmered for 10 minutes get a fine strainer and strain it to ensure there are no lumps and also allows you to remove the peppercorns and bay leafs
12. Cut your cheddar cheese is small cubes and add to the strained sauce (Bechamel) and stir till mostly melted.
13. Now place your pasta back into the big pot and then pour the sauce over the pasta.
14. Mix well and and chop bacon into small pieces and sprinkle over the top, Enjoy! 

Side note: If you don't feel like using Conchiglie pasta, then try and use another type of pasta that will allow for the sauce to stick to it or store it in the cavity.
I like to use the Conchiglir because it acts like a small spoon that scoops up all the sauce. 


Here are a few other good types of pastas to use:

1. Fusilli
   
2. Gomiti
3. Rigatoni
4. Pipe
5. Rotini
6. And of course macaroni