Macaroni Cheese

Macaroni Cheese

Macaroni Cheese is a dish that evokes comfort and nostalgic memories for many.  It’s not a dish we cook that often and consequently we’re late to the party in publishing our take on this recipe.

As always, we like to make something traditionally barbecue a bit different and zhuzh it up.  In this version, we’ve added bacon, used cream cheese to create a creamier sauce and spiced with some jalapeños but you could always leave them out.  We do, however, always use dijon mustard to intensify the flavour of the sauce.  We like a crispy top, so we’re adding panko breadcrumbs over the top of the dish as we put in the Egg to cook.

This dish is perfect as a side for grilled meats or as the star of the show. Cooked on the Big Green Egg, the dish is infused with a gentle kiss of smoky flavor, which pairs beautifully with the creamy, cheesy sauce.

We used a glass square oven dish measuring 19.5 long by 19.5 wide by 7.5cm deep.

Cooking surfaces

Plate setter icon

BBQ Temperature

200°C

Ingredients

  • 5 rashers of streaky bacon, diced
  • 400g macaroni pasta, uncooked
  • 50g butter
  • 50g plain flour
  • 500ml milk
  • 2 jalapeños, deseeded, optional
  • 2 tbsp dijon mustard
  • 120g cheddar cheese, grated
  • 75g double gloucester, grated
  • 110g cream cheese, we used Philadelphia
  • 1/4 tsp grated nutmeg
  • 1 tsp cayenne pepper
  • 2 handfuls panko breadcrumbs, optional
  • fresh herbs, chopped, optional
  • salt and pepper to taste

Method

    1. Setup your Big Green Egg for an indirect cook with the stainless steel grid on top of your ConvEGGtor.  Set your Egg to 200°C.
    2. Pre-cook your pasta in boiling salted water for 7 minutes.  It doesn’t need to be cooked fully as it will be smothered in cheese sauce before being cooked again.
    3. Cut your bacon into small pieces and fry off for about 5 minutes in a pan until crispy.
    4. To make the sauce, you start with a classic roux, so melt the butter in a pan and then stir in the flour.  Keep stirring, you’re looking to make a thick paste.  Once you’ve got a paste, give it a couple of minutes to cook the flour; you’ll start to see bubbles forming in the paste.
    5. Add the milk gradually, a bit at a time, stirring continously, until all the milk has been added.  As the milk heats up, it will start to thicken, so keep stirring to avoid any lumps forming.
    6. You’re looking for the sauce to coat the back of a spoon, at this point you can stir in the mustard and sliced jalapeños, if using.
    7. Remove from the heat, add the grated and cream cheese together with the nutmeg and cayenne pepper.  The cheese will melt in the residual heat of the sauce.
    8. Taste the sauce; we season with a little salt and lots of ground black pepper.  We might even add a bit more mustard and or cheese depending how the sauce tastes.
    9. Now you can pour the cheese sauce into the dish to cover the cooked pasta.  Give it a good stir.  If you wish, add breadcrumbs mixed with some fresh herbs just ahead of cooking.
    10. Place the dish on the grid and cook for about 40 minutes until the sauce is bubbling and the top is crisp.
    11. Once cooked, remove from the heat and serve.

     

    Mac'n'cheese
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