Peppered Bacon Mac n’ Cheese

Cheesy, creamy, bacon-y goodness!

Servings: 8 to 10 servings

Ingredients

• 1 pound Loveless Cafe Hickory Smoked Pepper Bacon, chopped
• 2 pounds elbow macaroni, uncooked
• ½ cup butter
• ¾ cup all-purpose flour
• ½ gallon milk
• ½ teaspoon cayenne
• 1 tablespoon salt
• ½ cup blue cheese crumbles
• 1 pound (4 cups) shredded cheddar cheese
• 1 pound (4 cups) soft American cheese

Directions

1. Cook Peppered Bacon according to package instructions, cool and chop into small pieces.
2. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Grease a large casserole dish or two small ones, set aside.
3. Cook the elbow macaroni in a stockpot of boiling salted water. For creamy mac n’ cheese, be sure to cook the pasta until limp, not al dente. Drain water from cooked macaroni.
4. Pour the drained macaroni into the rectangle greased casserole dish,set aside.
5. In a heavy saucepan heat the butter over medium heat. Add the flour and stir to make a roux and stir until very lightly browned.
6. Heat the milk in another heavy bottom pan over medium heat and whisk in the roux and bring to a boil to thicken the sauce.
7. Add the salt, cayenne and cheeses and remove from heat. Blend well until all cheese is dissolved.
8. Add the cooked chopped bacon reserving ¼ cup for garnish on top when you remove from oven.
9. Pour the cheese sauce over the cooked macaroni and mix well.
10. Bake for 10 to 15 minutes, remove from oven, garnish with reserved bacon and serve.