I wanted to take my favourite childhood dish and pimp it up by using pancetta instead of bacon and three types of cheese with a smokey garlic crunchy topping to make it my favourite adulthood dish! It's slightly adapted from another recipe to satisfy my taste buds and ingredients I buy.
Prepare breadcrumbs: Place garlic and bread pieces in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the steel blade and pulse until bread turns into crumbs and mixture is combined. Pour in butter, season with salt and pulse until mixed in. Remove breadcrumbs to a bowl and set aside.
Heat a heavy-based frying pan and add the pancetta. Cook for 3-4 minutes until almost crisp then drain well on kitchen paper.
Bring a pot of salted water to the boil and cook the macaroni until just al dente.
Melt the butter in a heavy-based saucepan, add the flour and cook, stirring, for about a minute. Slowly pour hot milk into flour-butter mixture while whisking. Continue cooking, whisking constantly, until mixture bubbles up and becomes thick. Remove saucepan from heat and stir in dijon mustard, thyme, nutmeg and pepper. Then stir in grated cheddar cheese, feta and Parmigiano cheese until completely mixed in and smooth.
Drain pasta and add to the cheese sauce along with the pancetta and de-frosted peas and mix well. Pour mixture into a large casserole dish. Scatter prepared breadcrumbs over the top and sprinkle over smoked paprika.
Bake until browned on top, about 30 minutes. Check at 15 minutes to make sure the breadcrumbs aren't browning too quickly (if they are, just place a sheet of foil loosely over the top). Transfer dish to a wire rack to cool for 5 minutes. Serve.