Three-Cheese Baked Macaroni...

Not too long after Jeff's surgery, he equated macaroni and cheese to pizza - at first, I said "What in the world are you talking about?", but then he went on a lengthy explanation and it started to make sense (I'm going to blame it on his pain pills for this to be on his mind!). He went on about how there seems to be endless variations of the mac and everyone has their own spin on it. I guess you could say that about a lot of dishes, but in this context, he had a good point.

With all this talk, of course he had me wanting to work a new variation of it into dinner soon (probably his intention from the beginning!) With an opened package of bacon in the refrigerator, which is nothing unusual around here, this Three-Cheese Baked Macaroni looked fun to try.

While waiting on the well-salted water to come up to a rapid bubble, chopped bacon went into a small (cast-iron for us!) skillet to crisp and render out is most of its usable fat. Just before you would pull it from the heat, a few cloves of minced garlic hit the pan until its pungent aroma strikes your nose with a gentle slap. With the bits scooped out to drain on a paper towel-lined plate, this is where this dish gets interesting.

Instead of a classic cheese sauce, this recipe calls for a rich combination of evaporated milk, three eggs and a mess of cheeses - sharp cheddar, smooth Monterey Jack and salty Parmesan. You may have used eggs in macaroni and cheese, but as far as I can recall, they have never worked their way into any recipes we've tried over the years. A hint of cayenne and fresh grated nutmeg join in for added interest and a mild bite.

My eyes couldn't help but dart back to that lonely slick of bacon drippings left behind in the skillet, so forgive me as I had to whisk a spoonful or two into the egg-y base. With that done, the cooked macaroni and bacon hop into the mix and the whole shebang is poured into one of our square pans to bake through.

There is definitely a different texture than what we're used to - quite dense, custard-y and not nearly as "gooey". This does make pulling out clean squares easy enough though (especially with a short rest)! While the top does get a bit of a crust as it bakes, I did find myself thinking a crunchy breadcrumb topping would have been a good addition to throw on too. While I don't think this will become one of our go-to recipes when we have a cheesy pasta craving, we did find it a suitable comforting dish that we'd make again.

Recipes
Three-Cheese Baked Macaroni