Macaroni and Three Cheese with Bacon, Onion and Tomato

Ingredients

• 2 cups Elbow Macaroni, uncooked
• � cup medium cheddar cheese, shredded
• 1 cup smoked gouda cheese, shredded
• � cup Parmigiano-Romano cheese, shredded
• 4 slices bacon, diced
• 4 green onion chopped
• � cup sliced grape tomatoes or � cup canned diced tomatoes with liquid squeezed out
• 1 cup chicken broth
• 1 cup milk
• 2 Tbsp flour
• 2 Tbsp butter
• 1 tsp paprika
• pinch of cayenne pepper
• � cup seasoned bread crumbs
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Directions

1. Put large pot of water on to boil for pasta.
2. Take a couple of Tbls of each cheese and combine in small bowl with bread crumbs, set aside.
3. In a medium frying pan over medium high heat, cook bacon until crisp. Remove bacon and most of drippings, leaving about 2 Tbsl in pan. Add green onions and tomatoes and cook until onions are soft or if using fresh tomatoes, until tomatoes have burst and are soft. Add bacon back to pan, remove from heat and set aside.
4. Put pasta in boiling salted water and cook according to package directions. Do not rinse pasta.
5. In a medium sauce pan, melt butter over low heat. Whisk in flour, paprika and cayenne and cook 1 minute. Turn up heat to medium and add chicken stock; then add milk and continue cooking until slightly thickened. Stir often so that sauce does not stick to bottom of pan. When thickened, add cheese, a handful at a time, to mixture while stirring to combine. remove from heat. Do not worry if the sauce is not completely smooth. After all the cheese is stirred in, add some fresh grated nutmeg, salt and pepper.
6. Drain pasta and put back into pot. Add bacon mixture and cheese sauce and stir to combine. Pour into 2 qt casserole dish. (I spray mine with Pam), top with cheese and breadcrumb mixture and bake at 500� F for 5 - 10 minute to brown top.
7. Oven Temperature: 500�F