Tuesday, January 8, 2008

BLT Mac & Cheese

I just made this last night and it was sooooooo GOOD! It came from The Pampered Chef's "29 Minutes
 to Dinner" cookbook, so this recipe is only supposed to take 24 minutes. However, it took me like 40 minutes, and it was pretty easy.
5 cups water
8 slices of bacon
4 oz. sharp white cheddar cheese
1 oz. Parmesan cheese
4 oz. cream cheese
1 lb. uncooked cellentani or cavatappi pasta
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. coarse ground black pepper
1 large leek (white and green portions only)
3 large plum tomatoes

To start pasta mixture, bring water to a boil in 8-qt. stockpot.

Meanwhile, slice bacon crosswise into thin strips. Place into 10-in. skillet; cook over medium-high heat 8-10 minutes or until crisp. Remove bacon from skillet to paper towel-lined plate.

As bacon cooks, grate cheddar and Parmesan cheeses. Add pasta, cream cheese, grated cheeses, salt, and black pepper to boiling water in stockpot. Cover and simmer vigorously 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

As pasta mixture cooks, slice leek in half lengthwise, then crosswise into 1/2-in. slices. Place into small batter bowl and swish in cold water to remove dirt; lift leeks out of water and stir into pasta mixture. Cook, uncovered, 5-7 minutes or until pasta is cooked to desired tenderness and sauce is thickened, stirring occasionally.

Meanwhile, cut tomatoes in half lengthwise; remove cores and scrape out seeds. Dice tomatoes; reserver 1/4 cup for garnish. Remove stockpot from heat; stir in remaining tomatoes and half of the bacon. Spoon pasta mixture into serving bowl and garnish with reserve tomatoes and bacon. Serve immediately.

Yield: 6 servings

Heidi Rogers
Salt Lake City, UT

3 comments:

Joanna said...

I tried this recipe, and it was great. To make it a little lower fat I used fat free cream cheese and turkey bacon. It still turned out great. And yes, you do but the cheese in the water as the pasta cooks. I was skeptical, but it worked.

Unknown said...

I love this recipe!! I use 8 oz of cream cheese, and a full package of the shredded cheddar. I also add in a whole bag of baby spinach right after I take it off the heat. I put that in there, put the lid back on and then let it wilt a minute before adding in the tomatoes, leeks and bacon. I change it up and make it "greek" style by using shrimp or chicken (cooked) instead of the bacon; I use the spinach; I sub swiss cheese for the cheddar; and I add in a can of artichoke hearts in water, drained, coarsely chopped; and a 1/4 c. each of kalamata olives, coarsely chopped, and sundried tomato strips in oil, drained (instead of fresh tomatoes) I add about a cup of feta before I serve it.

Unknown said...

I love this recipe!! I use 8 oz of cream cheese, and a full package of the shredded cheddar. I also add in a whole bag of baby spinach right after I take it off the heat. I put that in there, put the lid back on and then let it wilt a minute before adding in the tomatoes, leeks and bacon. I change it up and make it "greek" style by using shrimp or chicken (cooked) instead of the bacon; I use the spinach; I sub swiss cheese for the cheddar; and I add in a can of artichoke hearts in water, drained, coarsely chopped; and a 1/4 c. each of kalamata olives, coarsely chopped, and sundried tomato strips in oil, drained (instead of fresh tomatoes) I add about a cup of feta before I serve it.