It’s another AFC North showdown on the North Shore for your Pittsburgh Steelers. As the AFC North Champions the Steelers will host the Baltimore Ravens on Saturday night in the wild card game. It’s going to be a cold and rainy game and you’re going to be hungry for something warming and tasty.
I know everyone made all those “New year, new me” resolutions the other day but those don’t count when it comes to football snacks, do they? Of course they don’t. What you want to warm your insides besides multiple sacks on Joe Flacco on Saturday night is some good old fashioned mac and cheese. What goes better with mac and cheese than some bacon? Nothing. Nothing besides a fork, spoon, or possibly a spork.
This is something you can make ahead of time at home for your Steelers party or bring to the tailgate in a crock pot. It’s versatile, cheesy, and has bacon in it. Everything you want in game day grub.
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Here’s what you’ll need:
- 1 lb. macaroni (use penne or any other short pasta if you’d like)
- 2 cups extra sharp cheddar, grated
- 1 cup grated parmesan
- ½ stick of butter (4 tablespoons)
- 4 tablespoons flour
- 2 cups half & half (or milk if you don’t want it to be too delicious)
- Few dashes of Worcestershire sauce
- Few dashes of hot sauce
- Pinch of nutmeg
- 1 tsp of ground mustard
- Salt & pepper to taste
- 1 pound cooked bacon, diced
You can get fancy and used pancetta instead of bacon and if you do that, you might be too fancy for me. But first you’ll want to get a big pot of water boiling. Throw some salt in there and toss in the box of macaroni. Cook them 5-7 minutes. You don’t want them to be completely cooked because then they’ll get mushy in the cheese sauce.
To start the cheese sauce you’re going to make a roux. It’s a fancy term for melting butter and cooking flour in it to thicken a white sauce. Once the butter is melted, add the flour and stir it around until it smells like popcorn. Then add your half & half. Whisk it until it’s free of lumps.
Here’s where you’ll add the seasonings, the Worcestershire sauce, hot sauce, mustard, nutmeg, and salt and pepper. Keep whisking until it’s thick and bubbly. Then add the cheese, little by little, until it’s all melted and has become a gloriously cheesy sauce.
Bacon Mac & Cheese
If you’re going to bring this to your tailgate, this is where you combine it with the bacon and pasta; stir it all together and add it to your crock pot. Just to keep it warm and bubbly while you’re pounding beers in the parking lot.
If you’re making this at home you combine the bacon, pasta and cheese and add it to a buttered baking dish. I like to make a topping of panko bread crumbs mixed with some melted butter (because why not?) and slices of tomatoes on top. Throw it in a 350 degree oven for at least a half hour to give the topping a chance to brown.
Enjoy the game and the grub!
Here we go Steelers! Here we go!