Bacon mac and cheese pasta bake

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We love a nice hearty dinner in our household. A hot, steaming meal coming out of the oven makes me feel like my day has been productive and I’m winning at the housewife life! Today I want to share with you my bacon mac and cheese recipe – it’s basically a pasta bake! If you want to get right to it then skip to the end of this post for the full recipe card.

Ingredients for bacon mac and cheese

50g butter

50g plain flour

1/2 tsp mustard

600ml milk

Nutmeg

300g shredded cheese

100g smoked bacon

salt & pepper

400g pasta

25g parmesan

20g ground polenta

Method for bacon mac and cheese

Cook the bacon.

While this is frying cook your pasta in salted water for 8 minutes until it is firm, but not completely cooked. Al dente is perfect.

Set your bacon to one side, and drain your pasta or cooked macaroni.

Melt the butter in a saucepan, and then add the flour to it.

Cook this for one minute.

Add the mustard, salt and a pinch of nutmeg. Then slowly begin to add the milk, while whisking, and remove the sauce from the heat.

Continue adding the milk until you’ve combined all of the ingredients and then bring back to the boil and it will thicken up.

Once the sauce is thickened up then remove from the heat again, add the cheddar, and keep stirring until the cheese has melted. Season with black pepper. Add the bacon. Set aside.

Preheat your oven to gas mark 6 (200C) while finishing the dish.

Add the cheese sauce to your cooked pasta and then pour into your baking dish. Top with the parmesan and ground polenta.

Bake for 25 minutes until golden brown.

How to make my bacon mac and cheese:

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Bacon mac and cheese

Course Main Course

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 25 minutes

Total Time 40 minutes

Servings 4 servings

Ingredients

Cheese sauce

• 50 g butter
• 50 g plain flour
• 1/2 tsp mustard
• 600 ml whole milk
• pinch Nutmeg
• 300 g cheddar cheese

Other ingredients

• 100 g smoked bacon
• 1/4 tsp salt & pepper
• 400 g pasta your choice

Topping

• 25 g parmesan
• 20 g ground polenta

Instructions

1. Fry off the bacon.
2. While this is frying cook your pasta for 8 minutes until it is firm, but not completely cooked.
3. Set your bacon to one side, and drain your pasta.
4. Melt the butter in a saucepan, and then add the flour to it.
5. Cook this for one minute.
6. Add the mustard, salt and a pinch of nutmeg. Then slowly begin to add the milk, while whisking, and remove the sauce from the heat.
7. Continue adding the milk until you've combined all of the ingredients and then bring back to the boil and it will thicken up.

8. Once the sauce is thickened up then remove from the heat again, add the cheddar, and keep stirring until melted fully. Season with black pepper. Add the bacon and stir through.

9. Preheat your oven to gas mark 6 (200C) while finishing the dish.

10. Add the sauce to your cooked pasta and then pour into your serving dish. Top with the parmesan and ground polenta.

11. Bake for 25 minutes until golden brown.

This recipe is so simple – best of all you can make it up in advance and leave it in the fridge until you want to cook it for dinner. You can also reheat the leftovers – and they are almost as good!

Products I use when making my bacon mac and cheese:

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Want to check out some of my other recipes? Get some mealtime inspiration now!

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