Mac and Cheese Pizza

Yes, you read that right. Mac & cheese. Pizza. I’ll admit, it’s not a combination I ever thought I’d like. And then I went to a little place back home called MAD Pizza, owned by some friends from our church. They introduced me to Mac & Cheese Pizza and my life will never be the same. I decided to see if I could make it. I knew I couldn’t get the exact thing since Mark probably wasn’t going to be willing to share the actual recipe with me, but something close would be better than nothing.

(And since I’ve been watching the chiseled bodies of Olympic athletes non-stop for the past few days, I thought maybe some carbs and cheese would be appropriate. Because, you know, I’m sure they eat stuff like this all the time.)

I started out with pizza crust dough. I use The Pioneer Woman’s recipe and had some 1/2 white 1/2 wheat dough in the freezer. So I pulled that out and got it ready, then pre-baked it.

While that was in the oven, I made our mac & cheese of choice. You can use whatever kind you like, I suppose – blue box, yellow box, homemade, etc. The creamier, the larger the noodle, the better.

Then, I made a Bechamel Sauce. I’ve never made Bechamel sauce before, but it was easy and quick. I got the recipe here. The quantity was perfect, too. (And saying “Bechamel” is fun.)

To the sauce, I added about 1/2 cup of shredded mozzarella and stirred it until it was all melty and yummy.

I spread the sauce on the pre-baked crust using a measuring cup. It took almost all the sauce. And I could’ve used it all, but didn’t want to press my luck.

After the sauce was spread like I wanted it, sprinkled about 1/4 cup cheese on top. Then, I loaded that baby up with mac & cheese and sprinkled another 1/4 cup of cheese over it. (I had a lot of mac & cheese left over, so don’t feel like you have to use it all. You mustn't disrupt the crust/sauce/cheese balance.)

Since the crust was pre-baked, It didn’t take long at 500 degrees to get hot, melty, and golden.

I let it cool a little and gave it a try. It was good. Not MAD Pizza good, but a really, really good homemade version.

So go ahead and try it. You know you can’t eat healthy all the time!

Mac & Cheese Pizza

The Pioneer Woman’s Pizza Crust – you can find it here or in her cookbook.

Macaroni & Cheese of your choice. I use the big-noodle, cheese-squeezed-from-a-foil-package kind. (Judge away!)

Bechamel Sauce (Super easy recipe here!) (Butter, flour, milk, salt & pepper)

1 cup (or more) shredded mozzarella cheese, divided

Prepare pizza dough and pre-bake crust.

Prepare Mac & Cheese.

Make Bechamel Sauce. When it’s finished, stir in 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese.

Spread Bechamel sauce on the pre-baked crust. Sprinkle with 1/4 cup mozzarella.

Spread prepared mac & cheese on sauce, sprinkle with 1/4 cup mozzarella.

Bake at 500 degrees for 10 minutes or until hot, melty, and starting to brown.

Chow down and enjoy!