Mac and Cheese (Veggie friendly)

I love my mac and cheese fully loaded a la the Queen PW! I love it so much I NEVER make it any other way. Why would I? Bacon, caramelized onions, and cheese {these are a few of my favorite things}... Alas, I do have people in my life who feel bad about eating bacon. Oh you know people like that too? We should form a support group. Well these crazy people need mac and cheese too. Just how do I satisfy my need for bacon flavor without the bacon..

Inspiration struck yesterday at the grocery store. Remember that phase in college {maybe even high school} where everyone was vegetarian? When more than half of your friends gave up meat for whatever reasons a few of you are hanging out having a we still love bacon party. Well during that time for my friends, we discovered smoked gouda spread at whole foods (in the cheese section). It was super expensive {for college students}, but we were all addicts. It tasted JUST {well almost} like bacon! Enter mac and cheese light bulb moment! I could make smoked gouda mac and cheese. And so I did. And it was glorious!! I went for a very simple change: about 1 cup of mild cheddar and 1 cup smoked gouda. No bacon. No onions.  Next time onions are definitely making an appearance, maybe some other veg too. After my cheese sauce was brewing I decided to add about 1/4 cup gruyere/swiss blend for a little tang!! You can check out the original recipe and instructions here. Just omit the bacon and substitute gouda for the gruyere. Also I'd suggest slightly more gouda than cheddar.

Note: you can also omit the egg. I do this on days I forget or am just to impatient to wait for this to bake up and cook the egg properly. Today was one of those days.