Baby Back Mac
Serves 4 As A Main Course Or 8 To 10 As A Side Dish
Don’t come up to me and tell me you never have any leftovers. I’ll tell you that you’re not planning right. When you fire up your smoker and make ribs, be sure to make an extra few racks—make more than you think you’ll eat, so you’ll have another meal (or two) after you do all that work in your smoker. Problem solved. You can substitute pulled pork, brisket, or chicken for the rib meat called for here. But nothing sounds cooler than “Baby Back Mac,” which is why I chose to use rib meat for this recipe.
Ingredients
- 4 tablespoons ½ stick unsalted butter, softened, divided
- Kosher salt to taste
- 1 pound elbow macaroni
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 3 cups whole milk 2% can be substituted, but please, no skim
- 2½ cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese
- Freshly ground black pepper to taste
- 1 pound leftover baby back rib meat leftover pulled pork, brisket, and pulled chicken all make good substitutions
- Use 1 tablespoon butter to grease a 13 by 9-inch baking pan all over the bottom and sides.
Instructions
- Bring a large heavy pot of salted water to boil over high heat.
- Add the macaroni and cook al dente according to package directions.
- When finished, drain the pasta in a colander and then rinse it under cold water to prevent it from cooking further.
- Set the pasta aside.
- Melt the remaining butter in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat.
- Sprinkle the flour over the melted butter and whisk, stirring constantly for about 1 minute, until the butter and flour form a paste that is just beginning to brown.
- Slowly whisk in the milk, a little at time, until it’s thoroughly combined with the paste.
- You should have a thickened milky sauce.
- Increase the heat while whisking the sauce until it just begins to bubble.
- Remove the saucepan from the heat.
- Whisk in 2 cups of the cheese and season with salt and pepper.
- Preheat the broiler.
- Pour the macaroni into the prepared baking pan.
- Add the cheese sauce and stir in the leftover meat.
- Stir to combine and evenly distribute in the pan.
- Scatter the remaining cheese on top.
- Put the pan in the broiler and cook until the cheese begins to brown and bubble, 4 to 5 minutes.
- Remove from the broiler, cover with foil, and let stand for 10 minutes.
- Serve and enjoy.