What a tour de force of mac and cheese this is. And can I just say, what a tour de force of a mom I am for the lengths I went to to make part of this vegetarian-acceptable. It was not easy.
Not easy because there is 1. bacon in the bread topping, 2. sopressatta AND 3. ham co-mingling with the pasta and many, many cheeses. For those of us who eat meat though…whoa.
(Is it just me or does every chef, restaurateur and cookbook author feel obligated to offer their own version of mac and cheese these days? It’s like this and sliders — they’re everywhere. Oh well, if something is going to be ubiquitous it’s better than foam.)
The four cheeses listed in the recipe are whole milk mozzarella, cheddar, gouda and (my personal favorite) havarti, but Stephanie invites you to use your own four favorites. And of course she throws some apples in ’cause that’s what she does (and it works especially well here). This will take you longer than your usual, go-to m&c since you will have to saute several kinds of meat in addition to the usual steps (making a roux, boiling the pasta, etc.) but so worth it.
Four-Cheese Macaroni (actually shells) with Apples and Bacon can be found here and on page 150 in Girl in the Kitchen.
