Baked Tomatoes Stuffed With Creamy Stovetop Bacon Mac And Cheese
Serves: 2
Irwin Berge
1 January 1970
Based on User reviews:
43
Spice
50
Sweetness
54
Sourness
41
mins
Prep time (avg)
5.5
Difficulty
Ingredients:
450 g
Elbow Macaroni1 cup
All-Purpose Flour4 cups
Whole Milk (hot)1 tbsp
Hot Sauce1 cup
Panko1 cup
Grated Parmesan2 tbsps
Parsley (chopped fresh)Directions:
1
For the mac and cheese: In a pot of boiling salted water, cook the pasta until al dente; drain
2
Set an extra-large skillet, or a large heavy saucepan, over medium-low heat and cook the bacon until crispy and the fat renders out, 10 to 12 minutes
3
Set the bacon aside, reserving the fat to build your sauce
4
At this point you should have about 1/4 cup of reserved fat
5
If needed, add some olive oil or butter to make sure you have a 1/4 cup of fat in the pan
6
Add the flour and cook, whisking constantly, until the paste bubbles a bit, about 2 minutes (make sure it doesn't brown)
7
Continuing to whisk, add 3 cups of the hot milk and cook until the sauce thickens, about 5 minutes
8
Season with salt and pepper
9
Bring the sauce to a boil, reduce the heat to low and cook for 2 to 3 more minutes
10
Stir in the dry mustard, and then gradually add the Cheddar and Muenster cheeses, stirring constantly until all of the cheese has melted into the sauce
11
Stir in the hot sauce and the remaining 1 cup milk
12
Add the cooked pasta to the sauce and stir to coat
13
Stir in the crispy bacon and season with salt and pepper
14
You'll need 1 to 2 cups of mac and cheese for the tomatoes
15
For the baked tomatoes: Set your oven rack to the middle position and preheat your oven to broil
16
Using a paring knife, remove the tops of your tomatoes (the stem end), and then carefully hollow each one out with a spoon
17
You want to create a bowl, while removing all the seeds and some of the flesh, leaving about 1/2-inch of flesh in each tomato
18
Season the inside of the tomatoes with salt and pepper
19
Then stuff each one with as much mac and cheese as you can, 1/4 to 1/2 cup
20
Mix the panko, Parmesan and parsley together, and season with salt and pepper
21
Pile some of the breadcrumb topping onto each tomato
22
Each one will accommodate about 2 tablespoons of the topping
23
Now, drizzle the breadcrumbs with olive oil, so the panko browns up nicely
24
Broil the tomatoes until the breadcrumb topping is golden brown and crispy, 2 to 3 minutes