Cajun Bacon Mac

So over my spring break, I had a bunch of people stay at my apartment. We ended up doing a couple cook outs because getting into restaurants around Savannah during St. Patty's Day is just crazy. So one of the recipes that I made is my Cajun Bacon Mac. It's one of everyone's favorite recipes of mine. It's spicy, smoky, and creamy, but it's still really comforting like any mac n' cheese would be. My favorite part of the CBM is actually the topping. I decided to crush up some goldfish and mix it with some panko for a super-crispy crust. If you are not a fan of spicy food, then you can always tone it down some. But actually for this recipe I did a lot less spice because normally we like it to kick us in the ass. So, feel free to tinker with the recipe a bit. Cajun Bacon Mac goes great with BBQ & Burgers. Enjoy :)

Cajun Bacon Mac

For the Mac n’ Cheese:

1 16oz Box of Pasta Noodles

3T Butter

10 Strips of Bacon, Chopped

¼C Flour

1t Salt

½t Dry Mustard

¼t Pepper

2 ½C Milk

1 ½C + ½C Cheddar, Shredded

½lb Velveeta, Cut into Cubes

1C Smoked Gouda, Shredded

2T Hot Sauce

2T Cajun Seasoning

2t Paprika

1C Goldfish, Crushed

1C Panko

¼C Parmesan

1t Cajun Seasoning

2T Butter

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 375.
2. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook pasta according to package directions.
3. In large saucepan, melt butter over low heat. Stir in flour, salt, mustard and pepper until smooth; take off heat. Also, in a separate pan, cook the cubed bacon until crispy, drain from the fat and set aside.
4. Little by little, stir in milk until smooth. Stir constantly for 10 minutes on heat until thick; take off heat. Stir in 1 1/2 cups Cheddar cheese, Velveeta cheese and Smoked Gouda cheese until melted. Next stir in Cajun seasoning, paprika, and cooked bacon.
5. Put cooked macaroni in a greased casserole dish, pour cheese & bacon mixture over and mix well. Sprinkle over the ½C of cheddar, then top with the crushed goldfish, panko, parmesan, and Cajun seasoning. Cut the 2T of butter into little cubes and sprinkle them on top of the crust, so that it will brown nicely.
6. Bake in the oven for 20-30 minutes. 
7. Serve immediately.

source: smokehouse macaroni and cheese

*Check out the Pasta Link Party for this recipe, as well as many other wonderful recipes!