Blue Cheese & Bacon Mac n Cheese

I make this a ton. Even though it's supposed to be an "adult version", my kiddos absolutely love this stuff. Give it a try, I know you won't be disappointed!

Ingredients :

• 8 oz. Rotini pasta
• 5 slices of bacon
• 3 Tbsp. chopped white onion
• 1 clove of garlic (it's perfectly acceptable to use the stuff in a jar)
• 2 Tbsp. butter
• 2 Tbsp. flour
• 2 cups milk
• 1/4 Tsp. Nutmeg
• 2 Slices of white bread
• 2 Tbsp. fresh Basil 
• Salt & Pepper

Ok, so now you have all of it but the most important thing.. the gooey cheese. There are several variations you can try but these are my favorite.

• 3 oz. Blue Cheese
• 2 cups Monterrey Jack Cheese

Or..

• 4 oz. Gruyere Cheese
• 3 oz. Extra Sharp Cheddar Cheese
• 2 oz. Blue Cheese

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Place a baking rack on a sheet pan. Put the bacon on the rack, making sure to not overlap the bacon. Bake for 15 minutes. Line a plate with paper towels and put the bacon on the plate. The bacon will continue to cook while it's cooling even though it is out of the oven. Crumble the bacon when it's cool enough to do so.

Cook pasta according to the directions. If you want, you can add a little olive oil so the pasta doesn't stick together.

While that's boiling, melt the butter in a medium sized saucepan. Saute the onion and garlic for about 3 minutes. Add the flour and whisk in. Let it cook for at least a minute. This is really important because if you don't do that, you'll be able to taste the flour and trust me.. you don't want to do that! SLOWLY whisk in the milk and get rid of any lumps that may be in there. Bring to a boil. Once boiling, immediately turn the heat down a little and stir until the sauce thickens. Take off the heat and add the cheeses from the above variations, stirring frequently. Add the nutmeg, salt and pepper. Transfer to a baking dish.

Put the bread and basil in a food processor and process until the bread is course and well... looks like bread crumbs. Sprinkle the breadcrumbs over the mac n cheese and bake for 35-40 minutes.

If you want, you can add some chopped tomatoes to the top. I usually don't do that (my daughter loathes tomatoes) but it puts a nice twist on an already yummy dish.

Adapted from Momstoppable.