Cheesy Bacon Penne

I saw this recipe while standing in line at the grocery store, in one of those recipe books they have there by the magazines, above the gum.  And mints.  It was a long line, I was bored and the theme of that month's recipe book was bacon - it was a no brainer.  This recipe looked good to me so I thought, hmmm, I don't want to spend the money and buy this thing, I wonder if I can find it on the internet?  I went home and googled the recipe name plus Taste of Home, and shazam, there it was!!  I love the internet!!  The kids loved this.  It is basically homemade mac and cheese with bacon.  Again, a no brainer.


Ingredients:
2 cups uncooked penne pasta
1 garlic clove, minced
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon pepper
2 cups 2% milk
3 cups (12 ounces) shredded cheddar cheese, divided
1/2 cup crumbled cooked bacon


Heat oven to 350*F

Cook the pasta according to the package directions. Meanwhile, in a large saucepan, saute garlic in butter for 1 minute. Stir in flour and pepper until smooth; gradually add milk. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 1-2 minutes or until thickened. Reduce heat; stir in 2 cups of cheese until melted. Remove from heat.

Drain the pasta; add pasta and 1/3 cup of bacon to cheese sauce. Transfer to a greased 2-qt. baking dish. Cover and bake at 350* for 30 minutes. Uncover; sprinkle with remaining cheese and bacon.

Bake 5-10 minutes longer or until cheese is melted.

My changes:  I used the two cups of cheese to make the sauce, but I sprinkled the top with only about 1/4 cup, not 1 cup.  That is way too much cheese for me!!  Also, I used the real baconbits things like I always do, instead of frying up some bacon.  It's faster, and lower in calories.  (As if that matters!!  This was probably 20,000 calories and 400 grams of fat!  Oh well, it was really good!!)

Also, I will have to double it next time, Caleb and Cam were trying to lick the empty casserole dish.  They were mad because they 'only' got seconds.


Recipe courtesy of Taste of Home and some way cool lady who bought the magazine a couple of weeks ago and posted the recipe on a labrador chat room site.  Random!