So over my spring break, I had a bunch of people stay at my apartment. We ended up doing a couple cook outs because getting into restaurants around Savannah during St. Patty's Day is just crazy. So one of the recipes that I made is my Cajun Bacon Mac. It's one of everyone's favorite recipes of mine. It's spicy, smoky, and creamy, but it's still really comforting like any mac n' cheese would be. My favorite part of the CBM is actually the topping. I decided to crush up some goldfish and mix it with some panko for a super-crispy crust. If you are not a fan of spicy food, then you can always tone it down some. But actually for this recipe I did a lot less spice because normally we like it to kick us in the ass. So, feel free to tinker with the recipe a bit. Cajun Bacon Mac goes great with BBQ & Burgers. Enjoy :)
Cajun Bacon Mac
For the Mac n’ Cheese:
1 16oz Box of Pasta Noodles
3T Butter
10 Strips of Bacon, Chopped
¼C Flour
1t Salt
½t Dry Mustard
¼t Pepper
2 ½C Milk
1 ½C + ½C Cheddar, Shredded
½lb Velveeta, Cut into Cubes
1C Smoked Gouda, Shredded
2T Hot Sauce
2T Cajun Seasoning
2t Paprika
1C Goldfish, Crushed
1C Panko
¼C Parmesan
1t Cajun Seasoning
2T Butter

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 375.
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook pasta according to package directions.

 In large saucepan, melt butter over low heat. Stir in flour, salt, mustard and pepper until smooth; take off heat. Also, in a separate pan, cook the cubed bacon until crispy, drain from the fat and set aside.

 Little by little, stir in milk until smooth. Stir constantly for 10 minutes on heat until thick; take off heat. Stir in 1 1/2 cups Cheddar cheese, Velveeta cheese and Smoked Gouda cheese until melted. Next stir in Cajun seasoning, paprika, and cooked bacon.

  Put cooked macaroni in a greased casserole dish, pour cheese & bacon mixture over and mix well. Sprinkle over the ½C of cheddar, then top with the crushed goldfish, panko, parmesan, and Cajun seasoning. Cut the 2T of butter into little cubes and sprinkle them on top of the crust, so that it will brown nicely.

 Bake in the oven for 20-30 minutes.