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Wednesday, September 7, 2011

Italian Mac & Cheese


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I'm doing a cooking challenge over at Mom's Crazy Cooking each month that I'm really excited about! This month's theme is mac and cheese. We have to go out into the blog world in search of a recipe then make it and blog about it. I chose an Italian mac and cheese recipe from Food Blogga.

I feel like mine should be called "the poor girls Italian mac and cheese" because I had to make a few adjustments. I calculated that it would have cost me between $25 and $30 to make this based on the original recipe which is little out of my budget for one dish! First off I couldn't find Fontiago cheese anywhere. I found Asiago and Fontina but not the hybrid. The Fontina was almost $13 for half a pound so I went with a less expensive Havarti which was around $5. The pancetta would have cost around $9 so I chose smoked bacon instead. I changed some other things too as you will see when you compare the two recipes. Here is my version of the Italian mac and cheese.


Ingredients
8 oz. diced smoked bacon
3/4 cup Panko bread crumbs
1/4 tsp garlic salt with herbs (I use Simply Organic spices)
2 1/2 Tbs. olive oil
1 pound whole grain pasta shells
1 stick of butter
6 Tbs. flour
6 cups whole milk (I use raw milk with the cream)
8 oz. Havarti cheese, grated
6 oz. grated Asiago, Romano, Parmesan blend
1 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
dash of salt and pepper
1/4 cup fresh basil, thinly sliced
1/4 cup fresh parsley, thinly sliced
6 oz. Parmesan cheese, grated


Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease 13 x 9 inch cooking dish.

In salted water, cook pasta two minutes less than what it says on the box. (It will finish cooking in the oven.) Drain pasta but do not rinse. Transfer to a large bowl.

Mix bread crumbs, garlic salt, and olive oil in a bowl with your fingertips. Set aside.

Cook bacon in a large skillet until crisp. Set aside. Drain skillet. Add butter and melt over medium-high heat. Whisk in flour. Gradually add milk stirring continuously until it reaches a boil. Turn heat down and simmer for thee minutes or until thick and bubbly. Turn off heat and stir in the cooked bacon, the Havarti cheese, the 3 cheese blend, red papper, salt and pepper, and the fresh herbs.

Pour sauce mixture over pasta and stir until pasta is evenly coated. Pour into prepared baking sich and top with Parmesan and breadcrumb mixture. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until it's golden brown and bubbly around the edges.

Enjoy! Check out the linky party below to vote for your favorite Mac and Cheese recipe, I'm #15 if you want to vote for me :)

This would have went a lot faster with two people cooking. Of course my baby woke up right when I was in the middle of making this! Luckily my six year old was there to keep stirring the sauce while I changed the baby's diaper and being the talented lady that I am, I was able to nurse my sweet little 6 week old baby while I finished the sauce :)


17 comments:

  1. Panko bread crumbs make a perfect topping from mac and cheese! Stopping by from the MACARONI & CHEESE Linky Party through Moms Crazy Cooking

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  2. Your recipe looks delish!!! Love all of these flavors. Found you from the cooking challenge.

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  3. Love your cheese choices and your mac & cheese looks wonderful.
    My Crazy Cooking Challenge entry: Velvety Mac & Cheese.

    Lisa~~
    Cook Lisa Cook

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  4. That looks very yummy! I saw your link on A Creative Princess and have just read about half your blog...no, really, about half your blog! Birth Stories...Unschooling...About Me...I'm a huge fan. I could comment on almost every post, but I'll just limit myself to this one! I definitely need to try fancying up my Mac and Cheese!

    Carla @ Jansen Family Adventures

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  5. Oh my goodness this is a great recipe that I will be trying. The photo of you cooking with your baby brings back so many memories. It is beautiful photo. Hope you are having a great week and thanks for sharing.
    Miz Helen

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  6. I love the cheeses you choose! Havarti + Asiago, yum! To top it off, adding in basil, oh my I must try! Thanks for sharing! :)

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  7. This is spectacular - I love your cheese combos AND the fresh basil. YUMMY!

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  8. Oh my - you certainly know how to multi-task! Love the photos - your baby is soooooo cute!!

    Your mac and cheese sounds utterly divine. This was my first time joining the ccc - can't wait for next month's.

    :)
    ButterYum

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  9. Love this recipe!!! Great combination of flavors. Congratulations of the little one....Looks like a great helper already! Talented mama!
    My talent comes in in trying to keep my 2 year old away from the stove with my legs while taking something out or putting it in the oven!
    Come see my mac n cheese at http://www.willcookforsmiles.com/2011/09/crazy-cooking-challange-mac-n-cheese.html

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  10. WOW, super mom! Thanks so much for participating!

    This challenge was so much fun! Hope you check out my Mac & Cheese Bites too!
    http://momscrazycooking.blogspot.com/2011/09/macaroni-and-cheese-bites-crazy-cooking.html

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  11. Italian mac and cheese, this sounds yummy. Love the fact that you nursed while you cook! That's talent :)

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  12. Loving the cheese combinations, sounds pretty tasty!! Thanks for sharing!!

    Come check out my CCC post: http://kaylasmalltownlife.blogspot.com/2011/09/crazy-cooking-challenge-1-ultimate.html

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  13. Thanks so much for choosing my Italian mac 'n cheese! I love that you smartly saved money and still ended up with an amazing mac 'n cheese. Guess which one I voted for? ;)

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  14. No worries! Totally understandable to have to make some changes, otherwise that would be a very expensive meal! Your photo looks so good with the upclose shot of the mac and cheese and the crunchy topping.

    If you'd like, stop on by my blog to check out my mac and cheese post :)

    http://steaknpotatoeskindagurl.blogspot.com/2011/09/crazy-cooking-challenge-and-buffalo.html

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  15. You had me at smoked bacon and panko. It sounds wonderful.

    Stopped by from the CCC. I'm #48.

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  16. The flavors sound wonderful! Stopping by from Pattitudes. I'm #19 & still working my way through all the posts!

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  17. Indeed! The cheese combination tasted like wow. :D Keep up the amazing recipes, love your blog <3

    ___
    International Calls to Australia

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