Colby Jack Mac and Cheese Pie With a Bacon Crust
Macaroni and cheese is one of my favorite foods. I love how something so simple can be so delicious. It's one of those dishes that even people who are terrible at cooking can whip up with no problem at all. When the Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board asked me to be a part of their second annual 30 Days, 30 Ways Macaroni & Cheese Blog to celebrate National Cheese Lover's Day I immediately jumped at the opportunity.
They asked me specifically for a "DudeFoods inspired" macaroni and cheese recipe and one of the first ideas that came to my mind was a macaroni and cheese pie with bacon. Using an actual pie crust seemed a little too easy however, so I decided to make the pie crust itself out of bacon, fill it with macaroni and Colby Jack cheese and then use even more bacon to create a lattice top, similar to what you often see with traditional pies.
When it came time for me to decide which bacon to use for my dish it was a no-brainer. I wanted to stick with a Wisconsin theme so I chose Nueske's, which has been providing the world with delicious meats since 1933. I've also noticed that their bacon seems to shrink a lot less than most other bacon when you cook it, which is essential when you don't want any open gaps between the bacon slices in your bacon pie crust.
I'm far from great when it comes to cooking, so the bacon crust was a little challenging, but luckily my buddy Jeff from EatWisconsin.com helped me out with plenty of cooking tips. Without him and the help I got from my wife this creation of mine probably would have turned into a huge burnt disaster, but thanks to them it actually turned out perfectly.
To create the bacon crust I took a pound of Nueske's Thick-Sliced Peppered Bacon and created a bacon weave on a sheet of aluminum foil. I then flipped the bacon weave into a pie tin and patted it down before placing another pie tin on top of it so it would keep its shape when cooking. I also put together the lattice top (this time using Nueske's Applewood Smoked Bacon) at the same time and put it in the oven along with the crust so that when the macaroni and cheese was done cooking on the stove I could fill the mostly cooked bacon crust with it, add some breadcrumbs, cover it with the lattice top and then throw it back in the oven to finish cooking. Once the pie was all done I let it cool on the window sill for a little while and then dug in!
Interested in trying to duplicate this awesome creation for yourself? Just head on over to the 30 Days, 30 Ways Macaroni & Cheese Blog for the full recipe and more detailed cooking instructions!
Wow. That looks awesome! I will have to make one of those.
This is so great and so inspiring. I'm thinking there are many other fillings that would be great in a bacon crust. Wondering how it might hold up to a pecan pie? Great job, Nick!
The pecan pie idea sounds delicious! The possibilities are endless!
Nice work again Nick!!! The creativeness is pretty sweet!
Would probably be pretty neat do add some hot dogs to the mix as well, you know sliced up dogs to give it a little more meatier appeal!
Wow. I'm impressed! I've tried lots of cheeses in my mac and cheese and I think colby jack is my favorite.
Yeah, it worked out pretty well. Each blogger had to choose a separate cheese to use as the main cheese in their dish and by the time I selected mine a lot of them were already spoken for, but it turned out really good with the Colby Jack.
I...I...have no words...nom...nom...nommmm. My first thought was, wow, greasy, but pre-baking the crust probably cut down on that I'll bet.
Yeah, after I pre-baked the crust and top I dabbed it with a paper towel to get rid of all the grease. The finished pie wasn't really greasy at all.
Love it!!
Well, whatever skillz you think you lack in cooking, you make up for in humor and creativity. Totally boss blog, dude!
That looks amazing! My mum (from Scotland) used to make macaroni cheese (baconless) but added curry powder to the cheese sauce - it is amazing, not too much but a hint of spice - I also add mustard, sometimes English for heat and sometimes American for flavour and savouriness. Yum. I was going to make the traditional roast this afternoon - beef/yorkshires/horseradish/Jersey Royal potatoes/veg but I made need to make some Mac for the side now :0)
It moved when I saw that
Wow! Talk about man food, this is it. What is better than bacon and mac and cheese for a killer meal.
Mother of god
I can only dream of how insane that has to taste
Your daily Augustus Gloop moment: mac and cheese pie with bacon crust.
Yes please!
This sounds so good. Will not be making it as I only cook for myself any more. If I only would of thought of this 10 years ago to make for grand kids. Would of gone down in history. So go ahead grandmas an make memories.
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great! nothing like real-man food!
I'm seeing this as mini pies done in my Texas muffin tin:
bacon macaroni &cheese + portable food = LOVE <3
Hi! This looks amazing and I HAVE to try it out. I am not the best baker so is there any way you could tell me the temp you baked the crust at and for how long?
Oh, I found the link! Sorry!
What were the cooking times and temperature for baking?