Last week we went to a friends place for a pie-themed dinner, and I had decided to make a macaroni and cheese pie, and of course, decided to add some bacon to it, in the form of a bacon crust. Also served was a beef and bacon pie, a quiche, a de-constructed fresh roll salad pie, and some raspberry tarts. I started with making a batch of macaroni and cheese. I keep this pretty straightforward, but will mix up the cheeses and add some additional flavourings occasionally. Macaroni and Cheese Recipe This makes enough for about 3 pies, and I only needed one, so I had a bunch of leftover that I had to use up.
- 1 box of elbow pasta (500g)
- 1/2 cup parmesan cheese
- 7 cups shredded old cheddar
- 1/2 cup butter
- 1/2 cup white flour
- 1.5 cups milk
- 1/2 cup cream
- Boil the pasta in salted water – a couple of minutes less than directed on the box for al dente – as it will cook further after being put into the pie
- Make a roux with the butter and flour, melting the butter over medium heat, then whisking in the flour and whisking until the mix starts to bubble , then lower the heat to low and stir on and off for another 3 minutes
- Slowly add the milk and cream to the roux, while stirring
- Mix in the two cheeses and stir until melted
- Drain the pasta and then mix in the cheese sauce
Macaroni and Cheese Bacon-Crust Pie 
I knew as soon as we talked about having a pie theme for the dinner that I was going to make a bacon crust pie, and macaroni and cheese seemed like a perfect fit. The maple sugar gave the bacon a semi-candied effect, as I didn’t put a lot on, just a sprinkle to give it a little more sweetness.
- Macaroni and cheese, prepared using recipe above
- 18 strips of bacon
- Maple sugar
- Heat oven to 400f
- Make a bacon weave, then put it in a pie pan and trim the edges – this will be the bottom crust for the pie
- Make a second bacon weave, skipping every second strip – this will be the lattice on top of the pie
- Cover the first bacon weave with a second pie pan, then put it in the oven for 20 minutes
- Sprinkle the second weave with maple sugar, then put in the oven for 20 minutes
- Remove the second weave and set aside – it should be evenly browned, but not quite crispy yet
- Remove the bacon weave in a pie pan, remove the top pie pan, then sprinkle with maple sugar
- Put back in the oven for another 10-15 minutes, or until the crust is evenly browned and crisp, then remove
- Fill the bacon pie crust with macaroni and cheese, then put the bacon weave lattice on top of that
- Just before serving, put into a 400f oven for 15 minutes to warm up and crisp up bacon on top of the pie
Smoked Macaroni and Cheese 
A perfect side dish for a BBQ meal, I took some leftover mac and cheese, added a little bit of heat to it in the form of black pepper and red pepper flakes, and put it on the smoker to suck up some pecan smoke flavour. The heat and smoke added a nice extra kick to it.
- Macaroni and cheese, prepared using recipe above
- 1/2 tsp Black pepper
- 1/2 tsp Red chili flakes
- Fill a pie plate with macaroni and cheese
- Mix the black pepper and red chili flakes into the macaroni and cheese
- Put on a smoker at 275f for 30-45 minutes
Bacon and Macaroni and Cheese Omelette 
I still had some macaroni and cheese leftover, so the next morning I threw it into an omelette with some bacon that I had fried up earlier. No recipe for this one, just a simple omelette. A guilty pleasure way of using up leftovers!