Macaroni Cheese

Macaroni cheese is a quick and easy meal to make, and it's delicious! The cheese sauce used in this recipe can be used for anything - like lasagne, or nachos. The recipe for the cheese sauce I use can be found in Julie Goodwin's book, Our Family Table, an excellent cookbook that you can purchase here. Here is a really easy recipe for how to make Macaroni Cheese.

You will need:

• Pasta
• 50g Butter
• 1/4 cup plain flour
• 3 1/2 cups milk
• Grated Cheese (tasty or cheddar, but you can add blue cheese or another type for taste as well)
• 1 Tablespoon Dijon Mustard (or add to taste)
• Salt and Pepper
• Bacon

Step 1

Melt butter in a saucepan. Once melted, add the flour. Begin to boil the water for the pasta. Preheat the oven on grill at about 220 degrees Celsius. 

Step 2

Once the flour and butter mix is like a dough, add the milk, only a little bit at a time - between about 1/8 and a 1/4 of a cup at a time, and stir until absorbed into the mixture. Repeat this until all the milk is added. Don't forget to stir constantly to ensure the mixture doesn't stick to the bottom of the saucepan. Cook the pasta at the same time as adding the milk. 

Step 3

When all the milk has been added keep stirring until the mixture begins to boil.

Step 4

Put in the mustard, and season with salt and pepper. Remembering to continue to stir. Add cheese to taste.

Step 5

Once the pasta is cooked, strain and put into a casserole dish. Pour the cheese sauce over the top, ensuring that it goes over all the pasta.

Step 6

Add some more cheese on top (parmesan is always a good option, as well as tasty or cheddar cheese). Cut up the bacon into small pieces and place on top

Step 7

Place in the oven and cook for about 15 minutes or until the bacon looks cooked. 

Serves 4.

Tips

• I usually use an entire box of Barilla pasta - either tortiglione, or girandole. I rarely actually use macaroni
• You can add anything to the cheese sauce when you add the cheese, for example onion can be a nice addition
• Use any cheese, but for the sauce use mostly tasty cheese. If you put blue cheese you have the choice of putting it on top, or in the sauce. I prefer it in the sauce. Putting a mixture of cheese on top is also quite nice. 
• Perfect if you have leftover ham from Christmas, or another occasion, just use ham instead of bacon
• If cooking for a vegetarian just skip the bacon. 

Happy cooking!

Posted by Lucinda Moore