Shells & Cheese (with Bacon & Peas)

By RoketJSquerl

Ingredients

• 12 ounces, weight Small Or Medium Pasta Shells
• 2 cups 2% Milk
• 1 Tablespoon Butter
• 8 ounces, weight Velveeta, Cut Into Cubes (I Actually Used About 10-12 Ounces!)
• 2 cups Grated Sharp Cheddar Cheese (more To Taste!)
• 1/4 teaspoon Seasoned Salt, More To Taste
• 1/2 teaspoon Black Pepper
• 1/2 cup Frozen Peas (more To Taste)
• 8 slices Thin Bacon, Fried Crisp And Chopped

Details

Servings 6
Preparation time 5mins
Cooking time 25mins
Adapted from thepioneerwoman.com

Preparation

Step 1

First, boil up some pasta! These are just good ol’ medium pasta shells, but you can use the small shells if you want.

Next, make the gourmet cheese sauce: Add 2 cups of milk (I used 2%) to a saucepan…

And add a pat or two of buttah! And that’s basically the basic basis for the cheese sauce, basically. Note that there’s no flour, there’s no roux, and there’s no white sauce. And that’s what’s so beautifully simple about this recipe!

Heat this mixture over medium-low heat until the milk is heated and the butter is melted.

And now, for the artisan cheese blend, which you can only get from specialty gourmet mail order catalogs: Start with a hunka hunka burnin’ Velveeta. And actually, it would be best if it wasn’t burnin’. Just straight out of the tight foil wrapper is best.

Try it sometime. It might make you giggle.

Now, making sure the milk/butter combo is nice and heated, drop in the Velveeta.

Stir it around until the pieces soften…

Stir it around until the cheddar begins to melt, then add in some seasoned salt. I use Lowry’s, but you can use whatever salt blend you like to reach for during your life’s journey. (Even lemon pepper would be lovely!) Just don’t leave this out; it makes a really nice difference.

Stir it around until the cheese is largely melted…

And add more of whatever you think the sauce needs. Be sure you add enough seasoned salt for the whole thing to be really, really flavorful!

(Pssst. You could also press in a clove of garlic and let it heat up with the butter and the milk. That would be crazy good!)

And pour it right into the sauce!

Now just stir it around…

Earlier, when I put the pasta water on to boil, I fried up some bacon.

And chopped it up. But before I added it to the pan…

I grabbed a bag of frozen peas and poured them right in, ice crystals and all. No need to thaw them first!

And I just stirred it around.

And here are some other things you could stir in: Caramelized onions, finely diced jalapenos, pimientos, halved grape tomatoes…the list goes on!

Dish it up…and when you do, make sure you get plenty of extra sauce in there.

A little extra bacon sprinkled over the top makes the world go ’round.

Now, just a note: The peas really assert themselves once you mix them in, so start a little light, give it a taste, and you can always add more. I happen to love the flavor of peas, but if you’re on the fence, tread lightly at first.

In a large pot heat the milk and butter over medium-low heat. Turn off the heat, then add Velveeta and stir until completely smooth and melted. Stir in the grated cheddar, then add seasoned salt and pepper. Stir until combined, then taste it and add more seasonings if needed.

Add cooked pasta and stir until coated. It will be soupy and saucy, but will thicken slowly.

If desired, stir in frozen peas (they will thaw) and bacon. Serve immediately.