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Smoked BBQ Mac & Cheese

A playful twist on an American comfort food classic: Smoked cheddar Mac & Cheese with a bit of BBQ bite
Course Side
Cuisine American
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour
Total Time 1 hour 10 minutes
Servings 6
Author Johan Johansen

Ingredients

Crispy Panko topping

  • 50 grams butter
  • 100 grams panko breadcrumbs
  • 50 grams freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Bechamel sauce:

  • 30 grams butter
  • 30 grams flour
  • 500 ml whole milk
  • 2 garlic cloves smashed with a heavy knife blade
  • 1 small onion peeled and cut in half
  • 4 cloves
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
  • 1 tablespoon dry rub mix
  • 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
  • 1 teaspoon Tabasco

Mac and Cheese Bascis

  • 250 grams freshly grated apple-smoked cheddar cheese can substitute smoked gouda or regular sharp cheddar cheese
  • 300 grams quality elbow macaroni noodles
  • Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Instructions

Make Panko/Parmesan crust mixture

  1. In sautée pan, melt butter over medium heat, once melted and lightly brown, add panko bread crumbs and stir to coat.
  2. Kill heat, then stir in Parmesan cheese and set aside till needed.

Make Bechamel sauce:

  1. Melt butter in a medium sauce pan over medium heat.
  2. Cook butter for a few minutes until it’s foamed up and the foaming has subsided.
  3. Add in the flour and whisk until a smooth roux has formed.
  4. Cook roux for about five minutes over medium heat (stirring frequently) until roux has turned lightly brown and smells nutty.
  5. Whisking vigorously, pour in the milk gradually. At first the roux will turn into a paste, keep whisking and adding the rest of the milk gradually until a smooth sauce forms.
  6. Stud the onion halves with the four cloves and dump the onion halves in the sauce along with the bay leaves and smashed garlic cloves.
  7. Let the sauce come to a low simmer, stirring regularly to keep the sauce from burning.
  8. Simmer Bechamel sauce for 30 minutes, stirring regularly, then carefully remove bay leaves, garlic cloves and the onion halves (make sure all cloves are accounted for!).
  9. Grate about half a teaspoon of nutmeg into the sauce and add salt and freshly ground pepper to taste.
  10. Finally, add in the dry rub, Tabasco and apple cider vinegar, stir to combine and leave to simmer.

Boil pasta

  1. Add twenty grams of salt to two liters of water and bring it to a boil in a large pot.
  2. Once water is boiling, add the elbow macaroni and cook for about one minute less than the package instructions state.

While pasta is boiling, start adding the cheese to the sauce:

  1. Add about a fifth of the cheese to the sauce and stir until dissolved by the heat, repeat with another fifth and so onwards until all the cheese is incorporated into the sauce.

Everybody in the pool:

  1. Once elbow macaroni is nicely al dente, drain off the cooking water and pour the cheese sauce over the noodles, stirring thoroughly to combine.
  2. Add plenty of freshly ground pepper as well as salt if needed.
  3. Grease an oven-proof caserole dish with a bit of butter and pour the Mac & Cheese mixture into it, top with the panko/parmesan mixture.
  4. Bake in a 200C oven for about 20 minutes until cheese is bubbly and the crust is golden brown and delicious.

Recipe Notes

Cooking the roux for a few minutes before adding the milk makes for a nuttier, deeper more complex flavor. You can easily skip this step if you're in a hurry to finish up and feed the family.