The master of all Macaroni Cheese

Tuesday, 26th February 2013 - comments (0)

Resident "Geoff the Chef" at Norland Nursery has come up trumps again with this recipe for Brit favourite Macaroni Cheese. When I dished it up for my 4 year old last night he simply said "I love it" (what more could a parent ask for?).

I didn't have a blade of mace so I infused the onion in peppercorns and a bay leaf, and I didn't add any extras on this occasion, although ham and mushroom is popular in our house. I also popped mine under the grill for a few minutes at the end rather than heating in the oven, the top went nice and crunchy.

As usual I dolloped lots on tiddlers plate and to my surprise he ate the lot!

Ingredients

½ lb of dried macaroni pasta

A few drops of Tabasco sauce

1oz grated parmesan cheese

Sauce

¼ onion sliced

4 peppercorns

1 blade of mace

1 bay leaf

¾ pint of milk

1oz butter

1oz plain flour

3oz cream cheese

3oz grated cheddar cheese

Method

Boil milk with onion, peppercorns, mace and bay leaf. Allow to infuse off heat for 10 minutes. Melt butter, stir in flour and cook over a gentle heat, stirring for 1-2 minutes. Strain milk into this roux and stir well over heat until it thickens. Check seasoning and stir in the grated cheddar cheese.

Cook macaroni as per packet. Strain, reserving some of the cooking water. Stir the cream cheese into the macaroni. Mix sauce into this and add the Tabasco sauce. If at this point the sauce is a little thick, then add a little more of the macaroni water.

Pour into prepared heatproof dish and sprinkle over parmesan with butter. Bake in the oven for 7-10 minutes in a hot oven until the top is golden brown.

Geoff says "This is one of the most popular dishes at the nursery and is extremely versatile. Chopped ham, cubes of chicken, sweet corn, peas or wilted spinach would really enhance the dish and would be a great way of adding vegetables to the meal. You can also use a teaspoon of mustard powder or Worcestershire sauce to give it a little bite. For an extra crunchy topping then mix some fresh breadcrumbs into the parmesan cheese.

A lovely warm and filling supper dish which is easy to make and very inexpensive. Go on give it a go!"

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