Ingredients:
1 stick of butter
1lb of elbow Macaroni
½ cup of flour
5 cups of milk
1 ½ tsp salt
Freshly ground pepper
3 cups shredded Cheddar
2 cups shredded Gruyère
1 ½ cups of Parmesan, divided
1 cup of Panko bread crumbs
3 tbsp olive oil
1 package of sliced Smoked Meat
Your choice of sweet barbecue sauce
Let’s begin by preheating your oven to 375º and next up, in a large pot boil your Macaroni in salted water until they are Al dente
Now that we got those out of the way, it's time for the fun stuff!
- In a large saucepan, melt 1 stick of butter. Sprinkle your flour and combine. Cook until a golden colour is reached so about 2-3 minutes give or take.
- Now, pour in your 5 cups of milk and add in your salt and pepper. Let this simmer on low heat until it begins to thicken. Once it has begun to thicken remove it from heat.
- Get ready to whisk in your cheeses gradually. Add in your Cheddar, Gruyère and 1 cup of parmesan half at a time and make sure to whisk and mix until the first addition has melted before adding in the next bit so as to avoid any clumping.
- Now take that macaroni that you’ve set aside in the large pot and pour your cheese sauce into it. Combine the macaroni and sauce very thoroughly.
- Place your sauce covered Macaroni into a large casserole dish. In a small bowl, combine parmesan, panko and olive oil. Sprinkle this mixture over your Macaroni.
- Chop up your smoked meat sliced very finely and sprinkle this on top of the macaroni and bake for roughly 25-30 minutes.
- Take it out of the oven and serve. On each serving drizzle your choice of sweet barbecue sauce over the macaroni and your smoked meat topping and of course, enjoy the smokey, sweet and cheesy goodness!
As always, let us know on Facebook how this recipe came out for you and if you made any of your own variations to it, you could be featured on our blog and our social media as part of our Home Chef Highlight or #HCH!