Dana's Dirty Mac 'n' Cheese

When I hear the words "comfort food", in my head I pair up a cold fall or winter Sunday & food that thrills your mouth & belly, but not so much your scale. But hey, we're all allowed to treat ourselves once in a while. What better way to do that than with a rich calories-don't-count-today kind of dish?

Yesterday, I decided on my homemade mac'n'cheese.

Dana's dirty mac 'n' cheese



You'll need:
3 tbps of Becel Olive Oil margarine
1/4 cup of flour
1 tsp. sea salt
2 tbsps of Dijon mustard
2 1/2 cups of milk
2 1/2 cups of old cheddar cheese
1 cup of mozarella cheese
1/2 cup of diced green onions
1 cup of diced sweet onions
1 cup of chopped up bacon.
Approx 500g of elbow macaroni
2 tbsps of paprika
2 tbsps og grated parmesan cheese
2 tbsps of Herbes de Provence
1 cup of Italian bread crumbs

Onions & bacon:
Heat vegetable oil in a pan. Dice your sweet onion & cut your bacon into pieces (whatever size suits you) & add to pan until bacon is cooked & onions are caramelized. Add your diced green onions & sautee until they soften.

Set aside.

To make your cheese sauce:
Melt margarine in a large saucepan over low heat. Stir in flour, salt, mustard & pepper until smooth. Gradually stir in milk until consistency becomes smooth. Stir constantly for 5-10 minutes on heat until the sauce thickens. Stir in 1 1/2 cups of your cheese (if you want to use all old cheddar you can, or half old cheddar & half mozarella is fine too) until melted.

Set aside.

Preheat your oven at about 350 degrees.

The pasta:
Cook your elbow macaroni, drain, & place into a caserole/baking dish. Mix in your cheese sauce, bacon & onion mixture & stir to coat all of your macaroni. Sometimes at this point, I'll add a packet of Kraft's 'Extra Cheesy' powdered cheese & mix it in as well. You don't have to, it just adds a bit of flavour to the cheesyness & I say - go big or go home!

Sprinkly the rest of your grated cheese on the top of your caserole. Sprinkle on some paprika, grated parm cheese, Italian bread crumbs & Herbes de Provence.

Bake for about 20-25 minutes or until top is golden brown.

Heaven in a dish, I tell you.