Breakfast Mac and Cheese with Baked Eggs
Try this Breakfast Mac and Cheese with Baked Eggs recipe, or contribute your own.
Try this Breakfast Mac and Cheese with Baked Eggs recipe, or contribute your own.
- Carbohydrate 17.0167016804137 g
- Cholesterol 460.877343772491 mg
- Fat 23.4499967946812 g
- Fiber 0.0356518429487179 g
- Protein 17.5151769271988 g
- Saturated Fat 11.3636947002217 g
- Serving Size 1 1 Serving (270g)
- Sodium 261.349195589825 mg
- Sugar 16.981049837465 g
- Trans Fat 2.83836303759738 g
- Calories 346 calories
Step-by-step
- Preheat the oven to 400°F.
- Fry the bacon until crispy, set aside.
- Boil your pasta until al dente, according the package. When it’s done, drain and set aside until your sauce is finished.
- In the same pot or a large sauté pan or skillet, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the flour and stir constantly for about three minutes, until completely smooth and incorporated. Pour in 1 cup of the milk in a thin stream while whisking. It might start out lumpy, but keep whisking and it will smooth out into a thick paste. Add the rest of the milk and whisk until smooth. Keep on medium heat, stirring occasionally, for about 10 minutes, until the sauce thickens.
- Remove from the heat and add the salt and pepper, and cheese. Stir until cheese is melted. Add the drained pasta and bacon and and gently mix. Taste and adjust seasonings if needed.
- Place the mac and cheese in an oven-proof skillet.
- Make four small wells in the mac. Separate the egg whites from the yolks and pour the whites into the wells. This’ll ensure that the white are cooked while the yolks stay runny.
- Sprinkle cheese around the wells, if using.
- Bake until the whites are almost set, about 10 minutes.
- Top the whites with the yolks and bake until the yolks are just starting to set, 2-3 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and enjoy!
Combining pasta with eggs and cured pork aligns with long-standing rural culinary traditions where morning meals drew on versatile pantry staples rather than distinct breakfast-only ingredients. Historical British and American cookery often integrated leftover carbohydrates with dairy and proteins to fuel hard physical labor before midday. Transforming standard macaroni cheese into a morning dish through the addition of bacon and baked eggs reflects this pragmatic approach to heavy-meal preparation.
- Cook the flour and butter mixture, known as a roux, for precisely three minutes over medium heat to eliminate the raw starch flavor before introducing dairy.
- Whisk the first cup of milk into the paste in a thin stream to prevent stubborn lumps from forming in the béchamel base.
- Separate the egg whites from the yolks prior to baking, pouring the whites into designated wells in the pasta first for ten minutes, then adding the yolks for the final two to three minutes to prevent overcooking.
- Bake this dish in an oven-proof skillet at 400 degrees Fahrenheit to encourage proper browning on the cheese topping.
- Store leftovers in an airtight container for up to three days, though dairy-heavy sauces may require a splash of milk when reheated gently on the stovetop to restore emulsion.
Freezing this specific casserole is not recommended because milk-based cheese sauces tend to break and become grainy upon thawing. Reheating individual portions works best in a covered pan over low heat rather than a microwave to maintain moisture in the pasta.
