Smoked Gouda with Crab and Bacon Mac ‘N Cheese

 

Crab Macaroni and Cheese Recipe

I think that if you ask any of our boys what their favorite food is, they would all say mac and cheese.   We make a lot of mac and cheese.  If is not very often that we don’t have any children around, but today was one of those days.  I was craving mac and cheese myself, but without the kids, it did not feel right.  But wait, what if I was able to make mac and cheese “adult” friendly? Have I piqued your interest?

With the weather being so cold lately, who wants to go out to the grocery store?  Not me.  My challenge was to use only things that we had in our house.

So, I went grocery shopping in our kitchen.  What did I find you may ask?  Some smoked Gouda cheese purchased for the holidays, grated sharp cheddar cheese, along with some bacon.  Well certainly that would make a nice base for mac and cheese, but I wanted to step it up a bit.  When I opened the freezer, it hit me, crab legs.

I purchased those for the holidays as well but never made them.  This would most certainly make my mac and cheese more adult in composition.

After a little of this and a little of that, the mac and cheese was done.   My challenge was complete.  I was successful in making a delicious “grown-up” mac and cheese.  I think that I may have found my new favorite food.  Have a bite and let me know what you think!

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Smoked Gouda with Crab and Bacon Mac 'N Cheese

4.63 from 16 votes

Decadent crab and pasta entree with smoked Gouda cheese and flavorful bacon pieces.

Prep: 15 minutes mins

Cook: 30 minutes mins

Total: 45 minutes mins

Yield: 8 people

By: Scott from Platter Talk

Ingredients 

1x2x3x

• ▢ 1 1/2 lb Crab legs
• ▢ 1/2 lb chopped bacon
• ▢ 7 oz Grated Smoked Gouda
• ▢ 5 oz Grated Cheddar Cheese
• ▢ 2 1/2 cup milk
• ▢ 3 tbs butter
• ▢ 2 tbs flour
• ▢ 1 bay leaf
• ▢ 1 tbs nutmeg
• ▢ 1 tbs ground mustard
• ▢ salt and pepper to taste
• ▢ 8 oz medium shell pasta

Instructions 

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Boil or steam crab legs and then shell. Place meat in a bowl and set aside.
• Fully fry (or bake) bacon and roughly chop then set aside.
• In a sauce pan, melt 2 tbs butter and add flour over medium heat.
• Cook butter and flour mixture for approximately 2 minutes.
• Stir in milk, bay leaf, nutmeg and ground mustard. Cook for approximately 6-8 minutes until the mixture starts to thicken. You may need to raise the temperature, being careful not to scorch the milk.
• Once the mixture has thicken enough to coat the back of a spoon, lower the temperature and remove the bay leaf.
• Add gouda and cheddar cheese and a tablespoon of butter. Stir until cheese is melted.
• Add crab meat and bacon and salt and pepper to taste.
• Cook pasta according to packaging, drain and stir into cheese mixture.
• Put mac and cheese in an oven safe casserole dish and cover with foil.
• Bake at 350 degrees for approximately 20-30 minutes, removing the foil halfway through the baking process.

Notes

For this mac and cheese, you can substitute imitation crab meat for crab legs.

Nutrition

Calories: 691kcal, Carbohydrates: 28g, Protein: 33g, Fat: 49g, Saturated Fat: 24g, Cholesterol: 129mg, Sodium: 1140mg, Potassium: 391mg, Fiber: 1g, Sugar: 6g, Vitamin A: 594IU, Vitamin C: 6mg, Calcium: 438mg, Iron: 1mg

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

Additional Info

Course: Dinner

Cuisine: American

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