mac and cheese

Ingredients

• elbow macaroni
• thick cut bacon
• minced garlic
• minced shallot
• half and half
• grated havarti cheese
• salt
• pepper
• egg yolks

Procedures

1. cut bacon into 1-inch segments
2. boil pasta until al dente
3. cook bacon on medium heat to render out the fat, stop cooking when crispy to your liking
4. scoop out bacon and pour out most of the bacon fat into a cup
5. stir fry garlic and shallot until fragrant
6. if you’re straining pasta right now, save about 1 cup of pasta water
7. pour in pasta water to cover bottom of pan, and pour in cream
8. add havarti cheese, mix until smooth
9. season with salt and pepper
10. add in pasta, stir, sauce should reduce a little bit as you keep cooking it
11. in the meantime, start tempering your egg yolks with some leftover pasta water (little by little! don’t let it curdle)
12. when pasta is at desired consistency, turn heat off and pour tempered egg yolks into pasta
13. donezo

Notes

• 1:1 ratio for uncooked pasta and thick-cut bacon in terms of weight. sounds crazy, but bacon is a lot more dense
• 2:1 ratio for havarti and uncooked bacon in terms of cups
• 1:1 ratio for garlic and shallot
• generally want 1 egg yolk per person
• can season with extra spices like cayenne or chili peppers depending on your mood

Veggie option

• skip the bacon, use butter or browned butter