Macaroni-Cheese Puff

I found this recipe in the "all-time favorites" section of my Better Homes & Gardens cookbook, and it is so awesome! I hate pimiento, so I left it out, and my puff (kind of like a souffle) turned out the tiniest bit bland, but it was still fabulous enough that my husband, my 19 month-old daughter, and I all inhaled it. Does anyone have any ideas of a tasty ingredient that could be added to this souffle in lieu of pimiento? The only things I could come up with were bacon and corn.

It's not beautiful, but it's tasty!!


Prep: 30 minutes
Bake: 50 minutes
Oven: 325 degrees

Ingredients:
1/2 cup elbow macaroni (uncooked)
1 1/2 cups milk
6 oz American cheese slices, torn
3 Tbsp butter (use the salted kind)
3 eggs (to be separated)
1 cup bread crumbs (about 1 1/2 slices)
1/4 cup chopped pimiento (optional)
1 Tbsp snipped parsley (optional)
1 Tbsp finely chopped or minced onion
1/4 tsp cream of tartar

Directions:

1) In a small saucepan, cook macaroni according to package directions; drain and set aside.

2) Meanwhile, in a large saucepan, combine the milk, cheese, and butter. Cook and stir over low heat until cheese is melted. Remove from heat.

3) Separate the egg whites from the egg yolks, putting the egg yolks in a small bowl and the egg whites in the electric mixer's bowl. Beat the egg yolks. Stir about 1/2 cup of the hot cheese mixture into the egg yolks. Pour egg & cheese mixture into the saucepan with the rest of the hot cheese mixture and stir to combine.

4) Add the drained macaroni, bread crumbs, pimiento (optional), parsley (optional) and onion to the egg & cheese mixture in the saucepan. Set aside.

5) Beat the cream of tartar and egg whites with the whisk attachment for your electric mixer* until stiff peaks form (tips stand straight). Gently fold into macaroni mixture.

6) Pour mixture into an ungreased 1 1/2 quart souffle dish (or a 2 quart casserole dish).

7) Bake in a 325 degree oven for 50 minutes. Serve immediately.

*If you do not have an electric mixer, con someone else into beating the egg whites. This is a TON of work to do by hand!! And if you don't have a whisk attachment, I think the normal attachment will also work, but it might take longer. I could be wrong about this.