My quest for a good base mac n cheese recipe is nearing its end, I found a recipe that has great results and I mixed it up with my own alterations to test it out!
I give you baked mac n cheese with grilled onions, sundried tomatoes, and bacon. The final touch? Nutmeg!

Thoughts: I'm so close to what I was imagining for this mac n cheese I'm trying to make! This recipe will definitely be my base. Every time I get a tomato it gives a nice sweet burst that mingles well with the cheese and bacon. The onions add some soft crunch texture. There was only one problem with the recipe: Not enough nutmeg to make much of a flavor presence, which is important to the recipe I'm trying to make. The problem is I need to be careful with nutmeg, I don't want too much because it could give people a bad time. I'm trying to figure out what a good nutmeg to mac ratio would be to make it work. I'll try again next month and adjust the nutmeg amount to see what happens.

I used the recipe found here: https://www.thechunkychef.com/famil.....ac-and-cheese/
However these are the altered instructions with my changes (Once I'm done experimenting I'll write up my own version of the recipe)
For the sundried tomatoes I baked my own in the oven using these instructions: https://www.gimmesomeoven.com/oven-.....ried-tomatoes/

1 lb. dried elbow pasta
9 Pieces of thick cut bacon
2 pints sundried cherry tomatoes
1 Large onion, diced
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1 1/2 cups whole milk
2 1/2 cups half and half
2 cups grated sharp cheddar cheese divided (measured after grating)
2 cups grated mozzarella
2 cups grated Smoked Gouda
1/2 Tbsp. Salt
1 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1/2 tsp. Smoked paprika
1/2 tsp Ground Nutmeg


Prepare sundried tomatoes
Preheat oven to 325 degrees F and grease a 3 qt baking dish (9x13").  Set aside.
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.  When boiling, add dried pasta and cook 1 minute less than the package directs for al dente.  Drain and drizzle with a little bit of olive oil to keep from sticking.
Cook 9 strips bacon to desired doneness, set aside and break apart later when cooler
Cook onion in bacon grease about 3 minutes on medium high heat, adding pepper to taste, set aside
While water is coming up to a boil, grate cheeses and toss together to mix, then divide into three piles.  Approximately 3 cups for the sauce, 1 1/2 cups for the inner layer, and 1 1/2 cups for the topping.
Melt butter in a large saucepan over MED heat.  Sprinkle in flour and whisk to combine.  Mixture will look like very wet sand.  Cook for approximately 1 minute, whisking often.  Slowly pour in about 2 cups or so of the milk/half and half, while whisking constantly, until smooth.  Slowly pour in the remaining milk/half and half, while whisking constantly, until combined and smooth.
Continue to heat over MED heat, whisking very often, until thickened to a very thick consistency.  It should almost be the consistency of a semi thinned out condensed soup.
Remove from the heat and stir in spices and 1 1/2 cups of the cheeses, stirring to melt and combine.  Stir in another 1 1/2 cups of cheese, and stir until completely melted and smooth.
In a large mixing bowl, combine drained pasta with cheese sauce, stirring to combine fully. Stir in bacon and tomatoes.  Pour half of the pasta mixture into the prepared baking dish.  Top with 1 1/2 cups of grated cheeses, then top that with the remaining pasta mixture.
Sprinkle the top with the last 1 1/2 cups of cheese and bake for 15 minutes, until cheesy is bubbly and lightly golden brown.