Taco Tuesday: Pork n' Cheese Mac Recipe - Columns, Taco Tuesday | Style, Food, and Fashion in Canada

Hey boys and girls! As you may know, TEAM WRG? #TACOTUESDAY competed a couple of weeks ago in the Fringe festival’s 5th Mac ’n Cheese World Championship. We were one of 20 teams selected to create something delicious and creative using the entire contents of a Kraft Dinner box.

We’ve got to admit, our fellow competitors really brought it. There was a breakfast mac n’ cheese, mac n’ cheese soup, a dessert mac, lobster mac n’ cheese, shrimp on mac, mac on a Pringle, Tex-Mex inspired mac n’ cheese… we were totally blown away by the originality of some of the dishes.

In the spirit of Fringe, most teams also had a really cool way of introducing their food, one group sang a parody of “Call Me Maybe”, another put on a short play and Team Japan- in full Anime costumes- did a whole Sailor Moon kind of fight scene. Again, really great stuff and lots of laughs (mostly at the expense of others).

While we did not bring home the big Kraft Dinner trophy, we did our favourite comfort food proud. Staying true to our “REAL FOOD, NO GIMMICKS” philosophy, we and made a classic creamy cheese sauce with 3 different types of cheese including the most delicious truffle pecorino. We also fried up some pancetta and bacon, because this mac clearly didn’t have enough fatty content. And finally, we topped our little Ramekins with a breadcrumb-parm mix, which FlimseyGoods torched on site for a nice crispy finish. This recipe is not for the weak-hearted or the lactose-intolerant.

All in all, we had loads of fun AND looked good doing it!

Feeds: 3 adult judges, 2 young adolecents, Team WRG’s support staff aka. photog and station cleaner.

1 box of KD white cheddar
1 cup of elbow macaroni
1/2 cup cream
1/2 cup milk
5 tbs butter

- Boil the noodles in two different pots (they have different cooking times) until just al dente.
- Prepare the KD as indicated.

Cheese Sauce:
1 pkg prepared panchetta cubes
6 strips of bacon
1 small onion, diced very small
300g Pecorino w Truffle (grated)
1/2 cup grated aged white cheddar
1/3 cup of butter
1/2 cup of cream
5 drops of truffle oil

- In a frying pan, on medium heat, cook the bacon until very crispy. Remove, drain with paper towls and crumble, set aside.
- In the same frying pan (wipe it down), on medium heat, cook the pancetta cubes until crispy. Remove, drain with paper towls and crumble, set aside.
- In the same frying pan (drain some of the fat), saute the onion on med-low heat until they are translucent and quite soft. set aside.
Over medium heat melt the butter
Slowly add in the grated cheeses (constantly stir gently)
Slowly add in the cream keep stirring
Mix in the meats and onions
Finish it off with the drops of truffle oil
Pour over the cooked noodles
Dish into individual portioned ceramic dishes

Topping:
5 tbs of melted butter
1/2 cup breadcrumbs
1/2 cup grated aged white cheddar

In a bowl, mix together all the ingredients
Sprinkle a couple of tbps over each individual portion
Place under the broiler for about 2-4 minutes. They burn quickly!
Enjoy