Cauliflower Mac N Cheese

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F/175°C.
2. Line the baking tray with aluminum foil and place your 4 strips of bacon onto the tray. Place in the oven while preheating and cook for 15-20 minutes.
3. Bring a pot of water to a boil.
4. Clean your cauliflower head. Then cut it into quarters and into large 1 inch thick ‘steaks.’ Then, rough cut it into smaller pieces. If you use cauliflower florets instead of a cauliflower head, simply rough cut it into smaller pieces.
5. Add your cauliflower to the boiling water for 5 minutes or until tender, but firm.
6. Drain the cauliflower well and add it to a casserole dish.
7. Add ~four generous pinches of salt, black pepper, and mix. Set aside.
8. Check on your bacon. If it’s nice and brown, remove it from the oven. You don't need it super crispy or it will detract from the cauliflower.
9. Remove from the bacon from the tray and place them on a paper towel lined plate. Save the bacon grease – we’re going to use it. Also, keep the oven on!
10. Using the same pot, drain the water.
11. Add the cream cheese and heavy whipping cream. bring to a simmer and continually mix so that it does not burn.
12. Add onion powder, garlic powder, paprika, and cayenne powder. Mix.
13. Add the mozzarella cheese, the cheddar cheese, and the parmesan cheese. Add ~1 tbsp of the bacon grease to the mixture and mix until combined. Let sit for a minute to melt…
14. Chop up your bacon strips. We roughly want small pieces. Add it to your cheese mixture and mix.
15. If the mixture seems too ‘dry’ as it melts, add more heavy cream (or bacon grease). Continue mixing the cheese mixture until all the cheese is melted together.
16. Pour the cheese mixture into cauliflower and mix. Spread evenly in the casserol dish.
17. Use the last cup of cheddar cheese for the topping. I add quite a bit of cheese here, but about 1 cup will suffice.
18. Add the ground up pork rinds/Pork Panko to the top in a thin layer.
19. Place the cauliflower dish into the preheated oven for 20-35 minutes or until nice and golden.
20. Remove from the heat and let cool – that cheese is magma.
21. Enjoy!