This comfort food recipe is simple, but can become time consuming if you make your own pulled pork to put in it. If you have already made pulled pork and have leftovers, this is an ideal use.

Pulled Pork Macaroni and Cheese
(Gluten Free)

by Laura Penske

Prep: 20 mins
Cook: 40 mins (add 10-16 hrs for homemade pulled pork)

Makes 4 large servings

This comfort food recipe is simple, but can become time consuming if you make your own pulled pork to put in it. If you have already made pulled pork and have leftovers, this is an ideal use.

This recipe makes four large servings, but you could easily get more servings out of it if you serve it with a vegetable side dish or two.

For the Bethlehem Food Co-op Annual Meeting Potluck, I made a double batch. I also made the recipe gluten free so that more people might be able to enjoy it, but you can always use wheat pasta and flour. 

Ingredients:

8 ounces Gluten Free shell pasta (or any other shape you like to trap cheese in)

4 tablespoons butter

¼ cup all-purpose flour (I used rice flour to avoid gluten)

2 cups milk

½ teaspoon ground mustard

½ teaspoon salt, or to taste

¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese

2 cups pulled pork, prepared with barbeque sauce

½ to 1 cup Gruyere cheese

¼ to ½ cup pickled jalapeños (optional for topping)

Extra barbeque sauce of your choice (I use Bone Suckin’ Sauce) 

Instructions:

Heat the oven to 350° F and grease a 2 1/2 to 3 quart baking dish.

Cook the pasta in salted water with a tablespoon of olive oil (this helps the pasta to not stick together) following the package directions for an al dente preparation. Drain and rinse in a colander.

For the Cheese Sauce:

Heat 4 tablespoons of butter in a large saucepan over medium-low heat. Add the flour and continue cooking for 2 minutes, stirring or whisking constantly.  Gradually add the milk, whisking to blend thoroughly.

Cook, stirring, until thickened and smooth. Stir in the ground mustard, salt, and freshly ground black pepper. Add most of the cheddar cheese (leave out a couple fistfuls for topping later) and a few generous pinches of Gruyere (leave out most for topping later) and stir it in until melted. 

With the heat still on the cheese sauce, mix in the pasta, then the pork (make sure the pork is not cold when you mix it in – room temperature and warmer is fine).

Spoon the cheesy, porky pasta mixture into your greased baking dish. Top with the remaining cheddar and Gruyere cheeses, the sliced pickled jalapenos, and a generous drizzle of barbeque sauce.

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until the casserole is hot and the cheese topping has melted. For my double batch (which was in a deeper dish), I baked for about 40 minutes.