Smokey tomato Mac and cheese

[Idahawk]

1 pound  elbow Mac
28 oz can petite diced tomatoes
6 tablespoons butter
1/2 AP flour
1/4 tsp cayenne or to taste
4 cups half and half
1cup chicken broth
6 cups of cheese ( dealers choice ) I like a mix of 4 mild and 2 sharp
Pepper and salt to taste ( I use salted butter and cheese is salty so I took it easy )

Cook the pasta as directed and drain , add tomatoes while pasta is hot and stir , set aside

Heat butter in sauce pan , add flour and cayenne and cook for about a minute until golden brown , add chicken broth slowly while stirring and add half and half , heat on med-lo until bubbling ( 15 minutes or so ) don't scald the half and half . Remove from heat and stir in cheese until melted. Pour mixture over pasta and mix until coated , pour into a sprayed 13x9 or ? pan , grill indirect and covered until bubbly, uncover for 5 -10 minutes add breadcrumbs or French fried onions .

[argentflame]

Awesome cook. Nothing like having smoke Mac and Cheese.

[wyd]

Mac and cheese is hard to beat.  Going to have to make this sometime very soon.

[masonred]

Impressed and inspired, going to try mac and cheese in the Weber tomorrow. Going to use my regular recipe but with some smoke it should kick it up.

[1buckie]

Masonred, Smoked mac 'n' cheese is absolutely the bomb...been far too long since I've done some....this is a good inspiration, eh what?


I do it right on kettle, except for par-boiling the shells....slowly add in cheese, stir, smoke, more cheese, stir, smoke, shells, more smoke......yum !!!!

[Metal Mike]

Here I am thinking I was clever adding sour cream to my boxed cheese sauce (creamy)
But you've gone & raised the bar making your own & then w/a kick of heat no less!

Awesome Recipe

[1buckie]

I put 'Turds in mine (big surprize, huh?)




Used special Cheetos crumbled for the topping.....






Idahawk's looks really good & not ferociously complicated.......thanks for the complete rundown !!!!

[Idahawk]

 Bacon
Ham
Kielbasa
Hamburger
Onions
Peppers
Can of ro-tel
Can of baby shrimp
 
You can ramp this up in so many ways and make your own

[Idahawk]

Just one tip, pasta takes smoke quickly, so go easy the first time and taste as not to kill it with smoke

[1buckie]

Just one tip, pasta takes smoke quickly, so go easy the first time and taste as not to kill it with smoke

I smoked the melting cheese fairly good first & added in the pasta late.....seemed to work OK.....not quite like cold smoking cheese where it's a good idea to let it sit for a week before eating................

[masonred]

Used my regular approach and added bacon on top, everything is better with bacon and it was GREAT!!

[SixZeroFour]

That looks insanely good.

[Kgo]

I'm usually too lazy to cook Mac and cheese from scratch but you inspired me.

[1buckie]

This is another thing to watch for :  " ( 15 minutes or so ) don't scald the half and half '.....go kind of easy on the heat.....I used Mexicana Crema & heavy cream in this one, but half & half is fine.....

[Nate]

Thanks for the recipe. I'm gonna be trying this one.