Apologies, the photos are a bit rubbish, I just snapped them with my phone.
This recipe is one that I came up with to make macaroni cheese just that little bit better, and with more taste than my older versions. Adding the garlic brings out a fabulously strong taste that is just enough for me to taste but not as much as will put the kids off eating it.
I tend to make macaroni and cheese when I don’t have much time and the kids are saying they’re ravenous. I always have some grated cheese in the freezer and just put it in the microwave on defrost for a few minutes before putting it into my white sauce.
If you don’t have the traditional shaped macaroni, you can use almost any other pasta that you have for a similar effect. I also used to use mozarella, but have now moved to a stronger cheddar, which the kids seem to prefer.
Go on, experiment with your pasta.
- 500g Macaroni Pasta
- 400g Mature Cheddar Cheese (Grated)
- 1 Onion (Peeled and Chopped)
- 8 Cherry Tomatoes (Halved)
- 1 clove Garlic (Peeled and Chopped)
- 1l Semi Skimmed Milk
- 50g Butter
- 2 tablespoons Cornflour
- Teaspoon Salt
- Pop the macaroni pasta into a pan to cook. Add salt, onion and garlic and let it simmer for 15 minutes. If you prefer, you can shallow fry your onions and garlic before adding them to your pasta. When your pasta is cooked, use a colander to drain it, and run at least two kettles full of boiling water through the pasta to take away all the starch.
- You might prefer to make a roux to make your sauce (ie cook flour and butter until it forms and then add milk slowly until it is a smooth mixture). I tend to put my milk into a pan, pop in the butter and let it heat up to almost boiling, and then take it off the heat to add a mix of cornflour and a little cold milk to thicken my sauce, and put it back on the heat to cook in, just in the same way as I would do to thicken gravies etc.
- Put the oven on to heat at around 190C and butter an ovenproof dish. For these quantities, I use a big stone dish that does the job well. you might find you need to split this over a couple of dishes to finish it off in the oven.
- Take the white sauce off the heat and add in 300g of cheddar gradually. Put in a handful and stir until it is melted. You can put it back on a low heat while it is melting.
- Once the cheddar is all melted, pop the macaroni into the sauce and mix well before pouring into the prepared dish for oven baking.
- Sprinkle 100g Grated Cheddar Cheese on the top of your dish and place your halved cherry tomatoes.
- Bake for 15 - 20 minutes, until the top begins to show a golden brown colour.
I add a sprinkle of chilli and garlic flakes, it seems to make a big difference to the taste and its not over whelming. Never thought of adding onions though