RECIPE: Mac and Cheese

Now I don't know about you, but in the cold Winter months I love comfort food. I think it's in the knowledge that you don't have to bear all in a bikini, and surely it's a crime not to take advantage of all the Christmas food offerings in the supermarkets? With that in mind, I had a craving last week for mac and cheese. I did a little bit of research online at recipes, and decided that rather than copy something I was going to freestyle it. Mac and cheese a la Ellie. I didn't really just want plain mac and cheese – I fancied some extra ingredients. The beauty of this is that you can pretty much add whatever you have in your fridge at the time – if you like mushrooms they'd be great with this.

 

I will say in advance, the key to this is being able to stir multiple pans at a time!

 

These quantities serve 4 (so is perfect for lunch the next day):

 

500g macaroni pasta

4 tablespoons of sauce flour

¾ mug of milk

250g mature cheddar cheese

One onion (white or red)

One clove of garlic

Sprinkling of dry chilli seeds

Spinach

Lardons

 

1.        Put the macaroni on the hob in a saucepan to boil. You don't want to overdo it so that the pasta becomes too sticky- around 8-10 minutes is perfect.

2.        Chop up the onions and garlic into small chunks and fry in olive oil until golden brown. Add the chilli seeds at this stage so they have time to really work their magic in the olive oil. Add the lardons and leave the pan on a low heat so they cook through and become crispy.

3.        In another pan, pour half a mug of milk and put it onto boil until it's steaming. Whisk in a mug the rest of the milk and the sauce flour, trying not to get any lumps. Then add that mixture to the steaming milk. Here's the trick – you've got to keep it moving. Don't let it sit for longer than about 20 seconds (enough time to give the other pans a stir) or it will go lumpy. Once it becomes noticeably thicker, take it off the hob and add most of the cheese (leave a little behind to sprinkle on top). Keep whisking until all the cheese has melted into the sauce. Yum!

4.        Roughly chop the spinach up, and add to the pan with the onion and lardons. Wait until it cooks down and mix it in with the other ingredients.

5.        Drain the pasta, leaving a little bit of the cooking water to add to the final mixture if needs be.

6.        Now is the fun part – assembly! Put everything into a large pan, mixing the pasta and the cheese sauce and your extra ingredients. Season to taste. I always like a few extra chillies to give it that final kick.

7.        Spoon into an oven-proof dish, sprinkle the remaining cheese on top and place in the oven for 10 minutes at about 150 degrees.

8.        Et voila! A delicious mac and cheese meal.