Throughout my childhood, St. Patrick’s Day was a day usually celebrated with a big chunk of corned beef and cabbage that had been cooking all day. I wouldn’t call my kids picky eaters, but they’re not fans of our traditional St. Patrick’s Day dinner—but they are fans of macaroni and cheese. I got the inspiration for this recipe from a couple of Irish dishes like potato and leek soup, Irish beer cheese, and colcannon, which is similar to mashed potatoes with kale and lots of cream and butter. Add some noodles and a touch of bacon, and boom: happy kids.

Ingredients

• 1/2 lb. thick sliced bacon

• 1 medium leek, thinly sliced

• 1/2 head small cabbage, thinly sliced

• 2 baking potatoes

• 2 tablespoon butter

• 1 tablespoon bacon fat

• 1/4 cup flour

• 16 oz Irish beer (if a sip or two is missing, it’s ok)

• 2 cups milk

• 2 cups Irish cheddar

• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

• 1 pound macaroni

• 1/2 cup bread crumbs

• Salt and pepper to taste

• Chives, thinly sliced

Instructions

In a big pot, slowly bring salted water and potatoes to a boil and cook until fork-tender. Set potatoes aside to cool. Boil the noodles in the same pot once the potatoes are out. Before draining the water, keep about 2 cups and set aside. Drain and allow noodles to cool. Cut the bacon into small pieces, cook until brown and crisp in a medium-sized pot; set aside and save the rendered fat for later.

In the pot the bacon was cooked in, add back a couple of teaspoons of bacon fat, the leeks, the cabbage, and half the beer (remember to scrape the brown bits off the bottom), place a lid on the pot and allow to braise until tender. Remove lid and cook away any remaining liquid and remove from pot.

Make a bechamel in the pot from the cabbage—add in butter, bacon fat and flour. The roux should look like wet sand. Cook for five minutes so the raw flour taste is cooked out but not browned. Add in the remaining beer and cook until the smell of beer has cooked away.

While the roux is cooking in another pot, warm (but don’t boil) milk and nutmeg. Slowly add the milk one ladle at a time, whisking into the roux until all the milk is added.

Whisk half of the cheese into the sauce until melted, then add the cabbage mixture to the sauce.

In a large bowl (or the pot you used to boil the potatoes and noodles) fold the cheese sauce into the noodles. If the sauce is too thick to cover the noodles, thin it out with the reserved water.

Place the macaroni and cheese into either buttered individual soup bowls or a casserole dish. Top the noodles with the bacon, then cheese. In a small bowl, toss bread crumbs with either a couple of teaspoons of remaining bacon fat (or oil) then sprinkle on top of the cheese. Place the macaroni and cheese under the broiler until the cheese is melty and the bread crumbs are browned. Garnish with chives and serve.

Note: You could make this ahead of time or freeze for later. To reheat, instead of broiling, bake the macaroni and cheese until the center is warmed and the top is bubbly and browned. 

Kacey Rosauer met her husband in culinary school, and then they both worked in multiple high-end restaurants, ultimately trading in the tablecloths to help open a food truck in Seattle. Since moving to Spokane, Kacey started a food blog—Rosauer’s Kitchen—where she combines her love of sharing food and photography. Find her on Instagram @rosauerskitchen. Find more recipes at rosauerskitchen.com.