What You Need:
12 oz center cut bacon
2 8 oz blocks of cheese (I used Helluva Good Pepperjack & Medium Cheddar)
12 oz can of Evaporated milk (the higher the fat content, the creamier the dish, but I usually use 2%)
Your favorite box of pasta (My girls chose "flowers" ie. Fiori)
Olive oil of your choosing, just a few dashes
A covered baking dish (The one pictured is 2½ quarts) coated with your fave cooking spray
A colander (aka the thing you use to drain your pasta, not to be confused with a calendar, which might come in handy when choosing the next time you're going to make this stellar meal)
A cheese grater
What You Do:
All right, you are going to end up using three burners on your stovetop if it's electric. If it's gas, commence gloating now. Anyway, first I start cooking the bacon since it takes a bajillion years. I cook it on the stovetop, and you should, too. Here's why. You need that small amount of bacon grease to flavor your mac & cheese. Using center cut bacon, you won't have nearly as much fat, and that is a good thing all around. Trust me. Your waist will thank you later. So, long story short, start cooking your bacon in the biggest skillet you have. Medium to medium-high heat is best, and I usually start a bit lower and work my way up.
Now you can start boiling water for your pasta. Simultaneously (and this might be difficult for the multi-tasking challenged), preheat your oven to 350ยบ. P.S. Your bacon is still sizzling.
In between waiting for your water to boil and waiting 17 years for the bacon to cook,
you want to shred your cheese. I shred mine into 2 separate bowls and
pop them back into the fridge while I am standing around watching the
pot that's never going to boil and the bacon that's never going to be
done. ;-)
When your water comes to a rolling boil, toss in a dash of olive oil and let it get to a boil again. THEN dump the pasta in. Give it a good stir, and cook as you ordinarily would. Here's the trick, though. A lot of times when you bake pasta dishes, the pasta comes out mushy and gross by the time it comes out of the oven. How does one avoid this, you ask? Well, only cook it to FIRM. Most directions will give you instructions for "firm," "al dente," and "tender." The first marker is what you want to hit.
So once your pasta is finished cooking (and your bacon isn't), pop it in the colander and rinse with hot water. I suppose the temperature of the water doesn't really matter, though, since you will be baking it anyway. Just a habit. Leave it in the sink while you make your cheese sauce, k?
So, I usually boil the water on the back burner because it's bigger and away from the little hands who like to reach up from out of nowhere and attempt to burn their little fingers. K, so when I do the sauce part, it's too far to reach to the back burner, so I use a front burner. Anyway, heat up the evaporated milk, and then dump in your first round of cheese. Stir on the constant until it's melted, and then add your second cheese. Repeat, and once everything is blended together, add in your pasta. Mix it all up, and then pour the entire mixture into your baking dish.
By now, your bacon should finally be done...or at least close. It doesn't have to be completely finished cooking, as it will continue to sizzle while you bake it. So once your cheesy pasta is settled into its new home (the baking dish), arrange your strips of bacon on top. Then drizzle the bacon drippings on top. Cover the baking dish, pop it in the oven, and set a timer for 30 minutes. In the meantime, I am usually making several bows...but you don't have to do that. ;-) Maybe fold a load of towels or reprimand a kid or two while you wait.
Once the 30 minutes is up, remove the lid, and bake it for about another 10 minutes, or until your bacon looks like you want it to look. Some people like charred bacon, and others don't. A good rule of thumb is 10 minutes though.
And that's all she wrote, folks! I know it's long, drawn out instructions, but hey, I like to keep it interesting around here. I'd love to hear your feedback, your tweaks, etc. So let me know if you tried this and what you think!
*S*
