Smoked Mac and Cheese

Ingredients

• 400g dried macaroni
• 1 tbsp fine salt (for the pasta water)
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 60g unsalted butter
• 50g plain flour
• 700ml whole milk
• 100ml double cream
• 1 tsp English mustard powder
• 1 tsp smoked paprika
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp onion powder
• 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
• 250g mature cheddar, coarsely grated
• 200g smoked gouda, coarsely grated
• 100g Parmesan, finely grated
• sea salt and black pepper
• 6 rashers smoked streaky bacon
• 80g panko breadcrumbs
• 30g unsalted butter, melted
• 1/2 tsp smoked paprika
• 2 tbsp finely chopped chives

Method

1. Set up your kettle BBQ or smoker for indirect cooking at around 135°C (275°F). Add a couple of chunks of oak or hickory to the coals once they're glowing — you want clean blue smoke, not thick white smoke, or the mac will taste acrid and bitter.
2. Salt the pasta water generously — it should taste like the sea. This is your only chance to season the pasta itself. Bring it to a rolling boil and cook the macaroni for 2 minutes less than the packet says. You want it firmly underdone — it'll drink sauce and cook another 45 minutes in the smoker, so anything close to al dente now turns to mush later. Drain, toss with the olive oil so it doesn't clump, and set aside.
3. While the pasta drains, fry the bacon in a dry heavy frying pan over medium heat until properly crisp and the fat has rendered out, about 6–8 minutes. Drain on kitchen paper and chop into small pieces. Don't rush this — soft bacon goes chewy in the smoker, crisp bacon stays crisp.
4. For the sauce, melt the butter in a large heavy pan over medium heat. Whisk in the flour and cook for 90 seconds, stirring constantly, until it smells nutty and biscuity — that's the raw flour taste cooking out. Skip this step and the sauce tastes pasty.
5. Tip in the mustard powder, smoked paprika, garlic powder, onion powder and cayenne and stir into the roux for 30–60 seconds until fragrant — blooming the spices in the hot fat wakes them up. Raw spices taste dusty; bloomed spices taste of themselves. Watch it closely, the paprika and garlic powder catch fast and turn bitter if you push them.
6. Pour in the milk a splash at a time, whisking hard between each addition to keep it smooth. Once it's all in, add the cream and bring to a gentle simmer. Cook for 4–5 minutes, stirring, until thick enough to coat the back of a spoon — drag a finger through and the line should hold.
7. Pull the pan off the heat. This bit matters: cheese added to a boiling sauce splits and goes grainy. Off the heat, add the cheddar, gouda and three-quarters of the Parmesan in handfuls, stirring each one in until molten before adding the next. Season with sea salt and plenty of black pepper, then taste — adjust now, not at the table. The sauce should look glossy and pour like thick double cream; if it's tight, loosen with a splash of warm milk.
8. Tip the macaroni into the sauce and fold through until every tube is coated. It will look almost too saucy — that's correct. The pasta drinks it up in the smoker.
9. Butter a deep baking dish (about 25 x 30cm, or a foil tray works) and tip in the mac. Scatter over the chopped bacon.
10. In a small bowl, mix the panko with the melted butter, smoked paprika, remaining Parmesan and a pinch of salt. Toss until every crumb is coated in butter — dry crumbs burn, buttery crumbs go golden. Scatter evenly over the top.
11. Slide the dish into the smoker, close the lid, and smoke for 45 minutes. You're looking for the panko to turn deep golden brown, the edges to bubble furiously, and the centre to wobble just slightly when you nudge the dish. If the top is taking colour too fast, tent loosely with foil for the last 10 minutes.
12. Rest for 5–10 minutes before serving — straight out of the smoker the sauce is lava-hot and runny, but it tightens beautifully as it sits. Spoon onto plates, scatter generously with chopped chives, lay sliced dill pickles and pickled jalapeños alongside, and pass the hot sauce and a cold lager at the table.