MADE: Almost Too Decadent Mac 'n' Cheese

Just before the holidays, I realized that I needed to clean out my fridge before leaving for break. While most things were manageable enough--eating yogurt for breakfast for a week straight was fine, as was consuming several pepper jam sandwiches per day--one food item presented a particular challenge: my cheese hoard.

Mac 'n' cheese was calling--practically screaming--to me.  I mustered my forces--half a block of swiss, a third of a block of mozzarella, and a fourth of a block of cheddar, plus some random bleu cheese from some quiche or salad experiment gone by--and stirred this up.

Ingredients:

1/2 package bacon (about 6 slices)
1/2 medium onion (or perhaps a little less, depending on your taste for onion), diced
4 tbsp butter
3 tbsp flour
3 cups milk
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp fresh ground black pepper
1/2 tsp nutmeg
Pinch sage
Pinch rosemary
1.5 lbs cheese, grated or pulled into chunks (I used cheddar, mozzarella, swiss, and a little bit of some random leftover crumbly bleu)
3/4 lb pasta (I used a mix of leftover farfalle and medium shells), cooked and drained
2 slices thick bread, toasted and diced into 1/4 inch cubes

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Cook bacon in large skillet until crispy, then drain on paper towel-covered plate. Once cool, crumble and chop bacon into 1/4 inch chunks. Drain all but 2 tbsp of the bacon grease from skillet, then saute onion over medium heat until tender (about five minutes). Remove onions from heat and toss together with crumbled bacon. Set aside.

In a small saucepan, heat the milk until just boiling. Meanwhile, melt butter in medium saucepan over medium heat. Once the butter is melted, add flour, stirring constantly and lowering heat to medium low. Cook flour and butter mixture five minutes more, stirring frequently, until it turns a golden color. Add heated milk 1 cup at a time, stirring after each addition until thoroughly mixed. Continue to heat and stir until mixture thickens--about 10 minutes. Add salt, pepper, and spices to taste, then add all but 1/3 cup of the cheese. Stir all together.

Pour cooked pasta into medium casserole dish. Pour the cheesy sauce mixture and the onion/bacon mixture over the pasta, then stir to coat. Top the casserole with a mixture of the bread crumbs and remaining cheese. Put it in the oven to bake for 30 minutes (or however long you can stand to keep from eating it) and then remove to DEVOUR.

Recommendation: Share with housemates to A) avoid butter consumption guilt and B) engender housemate happiness!

Further note: The bechemel sauce (that's the butter, flour, heated milk portion of this recipe) is one of my favorite pieces of cooking alchemy. Making a good bechemel involves watching food undergo a series of state changes that can't fail to remind the cook about the science behind cooking. Wheeee!